Dive into the Horizon
by carriebee
Summary: AU RikuxSora Sora moves back to his hometown of the Destiny Islands, even though he doesn’t remember anything about his life there. After an embarrassing display on his first day of school, he wonders how he could live it down.
1. Chart the Course

**Dive into the Horizon**

**Disclaimer:** Dude. If I owned KH (and Sora and Riku) I would not be writing this, I would be happy and buying things with all my money! And since I am writing this, I do not own them, or am profiting by writing this. I do it out of love.

**Pairings**: Riku and Sora… eventually. There are a few surprises

**Warning:** I like boys… who like boys. As my friend who hits on gay men says "We're perfect, I like boys, you like boys… we're meant for each other!" (They're usually really nice when the shut her down (though some have said "Ew! You're a girl!") lol)

**Rating:** ummm… pg-13? Or like teen-older teen (weird ratings from manga) It might go up, I dunno.

**Summary:** Sora moves back to his hometown of the Destiny Islands, even though he doesn't remember anything about his life there. His only memory is a pair intense eyes. Can he figure things out or will he always be a slave to his fish? (AU)

**Author's Note:** Yay to Slashy-chan for making me get inspiration to write this fanfic! We're so horrible to each other, I beg her to write her fanfic (Love on a Rotten Day… which RULES!) and then she gives me that scary look which means I have to write as well.

Hmmm… Totally looking for a Beta (and no, not the fish) for this. (If interested e-mail me, comment on the story, or talk to me on AIM (I'm mtnfireprincess) I'm okay editing on my own but I do miss things. Plus I lurve discussion!

Let's see, I think Sora is sooo cute, and I hope there aren't people reading this for some Kairi bashing, because I happen to like her. She's a good friend to Riku and Sora (), I hope you'll all like her in this fic; I try to fairly portray her as a human being, not a Sora/Riku stealing demon. Waaah! That's enough for now! Now Read! And pleeeeease give me some feedback, I'll never know what you liked and disliked if you don't tell me!

* * *

**Chapter 1: Set the Course**

"_Sora, let's go sweetie, it's time to get into the car. Daddy is waiting for us at our new home,"_

_Sora sighed and turned away from the ocean and the small islands. He glanced up at his mother before climbing into the car; settling himself in the middle of the backseat, among the linens and pillows. His mother gave a tired smile and buckled him in and wrapped a blanket around her son. Sora fell asleep almost instantly as his mother drove away from the islands._

___-_

"Sora! Get in the car, sleepy head!"

Sora rubbed his eyes, way too early, he thought watching his mom bounce around the car and trailer, making sure everything was set and ready. Even though he was tired and a bit grumpy he couldn't help but smile about how happy she seemed. It had been far too long a time since she was so happy.

He climbed into the back seat, arranging the boxes and other familiar things from his house comfortably around him. Moving back to the islands, Sora pondered, he didn't remember them at all, so he wondered if it was really moving back. He only held the memories his mother recreated through photos and stories. To Sora, this was his first move.

"All buckled in?" his mother asked, shaking Sora from his thoughts.

"Yup! Let's move out!" he said, giving a thumb's up. Sora had relinquished the front seat for the fish tank since he thought it would be easier on them. He wouldn't allow his mother to give his fish away.

"Oh, I can't wait to get back to the islands," she smiled up at the rear-view mirror. Sora returned the gestured and started to look out the window at the passing scenery. He hoped to memorize the town and everything familiar about his life.

His mother and father had moved to the larger island (nicknamed the mainland) when he was little. Now his parents' divorced was finalized and his mother having full custody, they were moving back to her hometown. Sora blinked, realizing it was his hometown too, even if he didn't remember it.

Sora was glad after many hours of driving that there was a ferry ride long enough for him to stretch his legs. Well actually, the ferry to the southern archipelago took about three hours, but the first part of the ride he had spent eating a late lunch and fussing over his fish. He was glad to finally be able to walk around and get some fresh air.

He looked up in the blue sky, wondering idly if, somewhere in his mind, he had a memory of it. Sora closed his eyes, trying to remembering anything about the islands.

After a moment or two, an image came to his mind; a pair of intense eyes, sharp aqua blue, with a green tinge. Sora's chest tightened, he recognized them from his dreams. It surprised him to think of that image when he begged his mind for a memory. Sora jumped and opened his eyes at his mother's hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, space case, we're almost there. Time to get back to the car," his mother smiled, used to her son's strange behavior. Sora nodded and followed her back to the car, checking the fish once more before the ferry landed on the island, his new-old home.

Sora looked out the window as they drove along, everything seemed strange to him, especially as his mother commented about how much everything had changed since they lived there last.

"It's certainly bigger! I've been told this is a really popular vacation destination nowadays," His mother let out a squeak, getting Sora's attention as she pointed to pinkish sandstone building. He wondered what the fuss was about.

"It's your new school, Sora. So much nicer than the one I went to," she answered his silent question. He ignored the rant she started on about her school days to study and judge the building. He decided he didn't like it. He fretted mentally about having to go to school the next day, wondering just how strange it would be. Sora swallowed, torn between hoping someone remembered him and hoping no one noticed him.

-

Diamond stars reflected on the ocean, as if the whole world was floating in the sky. The smaller island not too far off seemed to be suspended in a field of stars. However, Sora couldn't enjoy the scene fully, he missed the view from his old window, he wished he had taken a photo of it, just to be able to recreate it, to be able to imagine he was home. He sighed and flopped back on his bed, his new bed. He pouted, pounding the mattress with his elbow; Sora wondered if it would ever be comfortable. He pulled his old blanket over him and fell asleep, his heart a mess of confusion, reminiscing, and a wonder about what tomorrow and the islands held for him.

BEEEEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!

"Ugh," Sora smashed the alarm clock beside him and sat up, looking around. He was puzzled and almost started panicking, this was not his room. He looked out the window, the reflection of the sunrise set fire to the water. Sora groaned. Right. Moved. He kneaded his face before rummaging around his messy room, finding clothes suitable to wear for the pivotal first day of school.

He stumbled down the stairs, almost running into a wall before finding his way to the kitchen; the new house was very different from their last. Sora gave his mother a half smile as he poured himself a cup of juice. His mother had already set out some toast and an orange, already peeled.

"Wow, you must remember the horrors of the first day of school," he said, wolfing down the food laid out in front of him. Sora was more than used to making his own breakfast. Even he, Sora the sleepy head, had woken his mother up once or twice. He knew she was really being nice when there was food involved.

"I do, but actually I didn't want you tearing through all the boxes finding food and creating another mess for me to clean up," his mother winked and grabbed Sora's plate, it didn't even have crumbs to sweep into the garbage. She eyed her son for a moment, "I'll drive you to school, so get your bag,"

"One condition," Sora stated, rising from the table. Not only did he want to make her swear no to do something, but he was buying time, to try and remember where he threw his school bag.

"And it is?"

"No embarrassing mother stuff. No kissing, no hugging, no yelling weird nicknames," he listed, locating the back-pack in his mind. His mother grinned and agreed and Sora raced up the stairs and flew open his door. Well, closed the door to the closet and opened the one next to it. Darn new house, he thought, grabbing his bag.

"Oh! Wow, the school looks wonderful doesn't it? So full of the promise of youth," Sora's mother said cheerfully, ignoring her son's glare.

"Yeah, I bet it's even better leaving," Sora commented, wondering if his mother was like a type of vampire who stayed young by feeding off the youthfulness of innocent teenagers. Why else would she think a strange high school was 'wonderful'? He shook his head, ridding it of his runaway imagination. Sora climbed out of the car when she put it into park. He looked back, sensing she was going to say something, he just hoped it wasn't something embarrassing.

"Give them a chance,"

He blinked it was a different thing to say, but after a moment he decided it was probably appropriate. She may have been a teenage sucking vampire, but she was a good mother. With a silent sigh, accepting his fate, Sora walked toward the pink building. As he walked, he studied the people around him; he was beginning to feel a bit nervous.

-

"Good morning Riku!" the red head had pounced at the older youth, hugging his arm. The silver haired boy gave a chuckle.

"Nice to see you too, Kairi, but how am I supposed to get my stuff with only one hand?" Riku asked, raising an eyebrow. He waited for the girl to giggle and let go before grabbing his books for first period.

"So what's up today?" Riku inquired, walking to the classroom door. He looked at the people standing around idly; the door must have been locked. Did his teacher always have to be late? Riku wondered a bit annoyed, unlocking and slamming the door open. Kairi pulled out the announcement list and handed it over to him. Somehow, even though Riku was the class president, Kairi was always the one to pick up the announcements from the main office. However she went by the main office every morning anyway, so she really didn't mind the chore.

He was reading the announcements to himself when Kairi remembered there was another note from administration.

"Special just for you," Kairi said and handed the note to a puzzled class president.

"We've got a new student," he said after reading it. He looked around wondering where the kid would sit. Riku then shrugged, it wasn't his problem.

Riku was reading the announcements to the class (and added his own dry commentary to them) when the teacher finally walked in, a short brunette boy following him, head down. He glanced at the boy, feeling a bit bad; he had never known what a first day of school felt, but Riku was sure it wasn't nice.

"Alright guys, last thing," Riku usually had better command of the class than the teacher. Everyone had noticed the new boy and was set into a curious quiet.

"This is our new student, so listen up while he tells us a bit about himself," he turned and glanced at the short boy, trying to give him a kind look of encouragement.

Sora finally looked up, wondering who the boy was. He must be like a class rep or something, he thought. He glanced up meeting the eyes of the taller boy for a moment before wondering what he was going to say. He froze, falling into those eyes. Those eyes, the same intense ones he saw in his dreams. For a moment all he saw were those piercing eyes then all was black

Riku blinked as the brunette boy fell to the floor in a dead faint. Wow, he thought, never saw that before. It seemed to be a common thought in the classroom as the students poured over their seats to crowd around, wondering exactly what happened, and if he was really passed out. After a moment or two of the quiet buzz and crowding, Riku thought he heard the murmur of some creation of nicknames. He growled softly and cleared his throat, swatting a few people back from the new student.

"Hey, back it up. I'm sure he needs to breathe," he called out; the students for the most part listened, giving Sora some room. When the giggles started, Riku knew it was time to lay down the law.

"I fight fainting out of disgust every morning when I have to look at all your faces, so let's not hold this event against him alright?" the insult to the class was received with a laugh, but everyone nodding. Riku felt bad for the kid, what a dramatic way to set yourself down the path of loserdom,

"I don't want to hear about this again. So wipe it from your memories and your gossipy mouths," Everyone agreed, a bit sad to lose the juiciest gossip they'd had for a long time, but they knew Riku would probably kill them if they mentioned it to anyone. They all returned to their seats eventually as the brunette boy started to come to.

Sora blinked, finding himself staring at a tiled ceiling. It was the second time that day he had woken up in a strange room. He looked up; those eyes once again were looking straight through him. Sora felt his eyes rolling back into his head and he turned away so he didn't faint a second time. He pushed himself up to his feet, blushing as he noticed all the students in the room staring at him in curiosity and amusement. Sora wondered if he would ever live this down.

"Yeah, they are a pretty scary lookin' bunch," Riku commented, hoping the new kid would feel a bit better, "Okay! So tell us all a little about yourself,"

Sora swallowed, and ran a hand through his already messy hair, wondering what to say, it wasn't as if they were listening. He was pretty sure they were all deciding exactly how to tell the story of the new kid fainting to everyone else in the school.

"Um… Well.. My name's Sora. Sora Uehara. I moved back here yesterday, I guess, um… I dunno, I don't think there's anything interesting about me… Can I sit down now?" he mumbled, he glanced at Riku, keeping his eyes away from the taller boy's eyes, and he didn't need to give an encore performance. He watched as Riku gave a shrug and sat down.

The teacher directed a bright red Sora to his new seat, by a window. He was glad about that choice, now he could stare out the window and ignore the conversations of the room, which he was sure were all about him and his weird behaviour.

Sora narrowed his eyes, unfocusing on the scenery outside he was gazing at. He wondered how he could seem so stupid. Who fainted on their first day of school? Sora frowned, fainting for seeing a pair of eyes. He was beating himself up inside for being so strange, he clenched a fist, couldn't he do anything like a normal person?

After two horribly awkward periods, Sora was sure the story of his little incident had spread through the whole school. This assumption made him even more certain of the non existent chance that he would be welcomed into any group during lunch.

Lunch. Oh no! Sora panicked in his mind, refraining from hitting himself on his forehead, he hadn't brought a lunch, and neither did he scam any money out of his mother. He sighed mentally, yes, his mother was right, the new school was just plain wonderful. Sora ignored his grumbling stomach as he closed his locker, which coincidentally was sticky, never wanting to open or close properly and it seemed to take a few times to open the lock. He decided to go outside and just find a nice little corner to curl up and die in, well at least be dead until afternoon classes started.

Sora found a lonely spot under a tree, far away from any group of students eating their lunch outside. He stared absent mindedly at his schedule for more than half of lunch, wondering how he would get through the day, let alone until the next holidays. He was so fixated on what a horrible day it had been, he didn't notice the two people approaching him until someone kicked him in the foot and gave a loud cough (their third attempt at getting the brunette's attention).

He looked up and adjusted his eye level once again. He couldn't look him in the eyes, not without making a fool of himself.

"I hope you're not like this during an emergency," Riku grinned, relieved to finally get Sora's attention, he wondered if there was actually something wrong with the boy. He waved slightly and decided he should introduce himself.

"I'm Riku, your class president, this," Riku gestured to Kairi, who was beside him, "Is my personal assistant Kairi," He grinned as she gasped and hit him lightly in mock outrage, "So come to me with your compliments and her with your problems,"

Sora smiled slightly, though he felt he was being mocked a bit.

"Nice to meet both of you," I guess, he added silently, wondering what they wanted and when they would go away to laugh at him to their real friends. He was surprised when both Riku and Kairi sat down with him. The red headed girl laid out a huge lunch, Sora was a little taken aback by the amount of food, there seemed to be enough for at least two people. Riku noticed the surprise and decided to use it.

"I'm very lucky, you know, Kairi is always making me lunch. I think she made an extra too much today, and then I saw you all alone, so well," Riku smiled, making Kairi mutter something of an excuse about being bad at portions. Even Sora could see through it.

"I hope you'll like it, Sora" she said, offering Sora a good share of the lunch. Sora took it gratefully, trying out a smile on her. It seemed to be normal enough, since Kairi returned it and then seemed to think as Riku helped himself to the bounty.

"Your last name was Uehara right?" she asked, Sora nodded, so someone was listening to him, "That's a local name isn't it?" Kairi seemed to actually be asking the question to Riku, who nodded.

"Yeah, I think my mom had a friend with that last name," He grinned and ate his lunch quickly, hoping to gain the upper hand in the choosing of desserts.

Sora ate his lunch slowly, wondering why these two had come over to see him, no one was that selfless, and especially to a boy who had fainted in their class. He finally finished his portion and smiled evenly at Kairi.

"That was delicious! You made all this by yourself?" Sora asked a little amazed, wondering how long it took her to prepare all of it. He also wondered how early she got up in the morning.

Kairi gave a small laugh, "I'm glad you liked it, I'll be sure to make enough for you tomorrow too, okay?"

The promise surprised Sora; they planned on invading his lunch again tomorrow? He decided to force himself to warm up to them a bit, if they were going to put themselves out on a limb like this. He glanced up at Riku, focusing his gazing on the boy's shoulder, while he talked, rather than risk looking at those eyes again.

"Watch out Sora, with Kairi you have to know when to say 'no' and make your own lunch, otherwise she'll start controlling you with her delicious food," Riku grinned, getting hit by a book, thrown by a blushing Kairi. The silver haired boy noticed how Sora wouldn't look him in the eyes, but he shrugged it off as the boy being embarrassed and feeling out of place.

The bell warning everyone that class started in ten minutes. Sora was about to stand up and leave when both Riku and Kairi grabbed his arms keeping him sitting down.

"No worries, we still have lots of time before class starts," Kairi said, cleaning up the food, frowning slightly at the disappearance of the desserts. She glanced up at a rather coy looking Riku. The silver haired boy noticed this glancing away, looking at the sky, desperately trying to look like he didn't know where the sweets went.

Riku glanced at Sora's schedule that lay on the grass beside the boy, he smiled slightly.

"You've got biology with me," he commented, pointing to the class after lunch. The silver haired boy finally stood up and stretched, gesturing for Sora to get up too.

"I'll show you where it is, come on," Riku said, starting to walk away with a casual nod to Kairi, who was still cleaning up. He turned back after a few steps, wondering why Sora wasn't following. The brunette had kneeled down and was helping Kairi clean up the meal completely. Riku tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

"Come on, she has a spare right now, but if we don't go now, we're going to be late," he complained, pushing some hair from his face.

Sora stood finally after Kairi waved him off, he jogged to catch up with Riku who had already started walking away. He was pouting, and spoke quietly.

"That's not very nice you know to leave her like that," he said, looking down, watching his feet move from the grass outside to the stone tile floors of the school. He felt Riku's eyes burn into him as the taller boy responded with a hidden edge in his voice.

"It's fine, I make it up to her later," he said, sneaking into the biology class just as the bell rang. Riku dragged a blushing Sora to the back of the class, grabbing the seat beside him for the brunette before the original owner was able to make a fuss.

Sora took the seat, still focusing about what Riku said; he was already blushing from the statement. He wondered if he had been the one to interrupt a romantic meal for the two. Sora rubbed his face, even sitting all alone he was able to mess things up. He watched out of the corner of his eye as the silver haired boy dropped to the desk, falling into a light sleep.

Sora smiled slightly, glad to be able to look at Riku properly finally without needing to worry about those eyes. He didn't seem like the class president type, he seemed more laid-back and cool for it, but Sora weighed out, he seemed pretty good at exerting an authority that he was sure that Riku had made up. He glanced up, paying attention to the teacher, every so often he glanced back at the sleeping Riku, Sora smiled softly with those eyes hidden by his eyelids, he wasn't so scary.

-

**Kari:** Yay! First chapter over! I was wondering how to continue it; but then I realized this was the end of this part! Just perfect!

**Riku:** Writer's block is not the same as finality.

**Kari:** Shush you. I am proud.

**Sora:** Proud enough to start chapter two?

**Kari:** Yes, my molestable brunette prisoner!

**Sora & Riku:** 0.o

I hope you liked it! R&R pleeeeeease!!!! I would like to know what exactly you liked and how I can improve. Or if you hated it all, still tell me!


	2. Cast Off

**Dive into the Horizon**

**Disclaimer**: Nope, Sorry folks, I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. Not that I am not wishing I did every night.

**Rating:** pg-13… still. For now.

**Author's Note:** I wrote this chapter strangely. I started with Sora writing his English homework (until dinner) and then added the beginning and then finished the dinner. I think I just wanted to write about the dinner. : laughter:: I like these two, and yes, since Slashy-chan demands this is Sora Molestation Month, there is a bit of it! But Riku is still being strange. And Sora learns to meet his eyes! Replies to Reviews are at the bottom!!

**Chapter Two: Cast Off**

"Well? Do you like it?" Kairi asked Sora, who was just finishing a warm dumpling. Sora nodded and smiled.

"It's good, how do you find the time to make such a great lunch?" he asked interested. The two were sitting down on a bench outside, waiting for Riku to come back from the cafeteria with drinks for them. Kairi giggled and looked a little ashamed.

"Actually, I don't do it alone; my parent's run a bakery and a café, so I'm able to take some of that food for lunch everyday. Were you thinking I woke up at like four AM to make this?" she asked, her laughter ringing out when the brunette nodded.

"You're so cute, Sora! I hope it hasn't made you feel bad," Kairi teased, cleaning up the thermal bag the dumplings had been in. She looked away from the blushing Sora to spot Riku walking over, carrying some juice with him.

"What? No soda? You're cruel, Riku!" she complained loudly as Riku got within earshot.

Riku rolled his eyes handing the juice out, frowning slightly that Sora didn't even look him in the eyes to say thank you.

"Kairi you're already too hyper, no need to make it worse," Riku said, taking the seat beside Sora, avoiding Kairi's swat.

Sora flushed slightly, wondering if he was becoming in-between the two, he was quite sure there was something going on between Riku and Kairi but he didn't want to ask. Asking might shatter the delicate balance of their new friendship, the two had been so nice to him, ignoring the fact he made a fool of himself on the first day.

"What?!" Riku suddenly shouted, opening up the empty container of dumplings, they happened to be his favourite. He looked from Kairi to Sora, whom she was pointing at, placing the blame on the clueless brunette.

"Huh? What's wrong Riku?" Sora asked glancing up, not noticing the dangerous look in the boy's eyes.

Riku growled in a playful fashion and leapt at Sora. Riku pounced on the confused boy, both falling off the bench, Sora's drink flying in the air. He tackled him on the ground, pinning the brunette down.

Sora was bright red, staring up at Kairi who was laughing at the two. He looked back at Riku, not understanding what was going on. All Sora knew is that the silver haired boy had pretty much thrown him on the ground and now he was looking down at him, his eyes alit with something of a passion.

"How could you? Dumpling thief!" Riku accused, noting Sora, who was flinching, was still able to look away. He wanted revenge for the last dumpling. Grinning he reached down and started to tickle the brunette without mercy.

"Stop! Ah!" anything Sora was going to say was lost in his laughter. Riku didn't let up until Sora, lost in the tickling, was gasping for breath. Riku smirked, sitting up, but still pinning the boy down.

"I think you're sorry now," he commented, noticing both Sora and himself had fruit juice on them. He looked over to see the drink he had bought on the ground. It must have been collateral damage, Riku thought. He grabbed a napkin, wiping it off himself and then cleaning Sora up (who didn't complain, mostly likely because of the absence of normal breathing) before it got gross and sticky, he hated that feeling. Riku jumped up, pulling the breathless Sora up with him. Kairi giggled, offering Riku a square for dessert.

"That was harsh, Sora didn't know," she said, offering Sora a drink. He was still recovering from the tickle attack.

"I see you didn't clue him in," Riku pointed out, eating the dessert for compensation. Sora finally, was able to find his voice and speak without gasping and clutching his sides.

"Why didn't you say something before?" Sora pouted, glaring at Riku's shoulders, since the eyes weren't an option.

Riku shrugged and smirked to himself, Sora was more fun to tickle than Kairi. Not only was he more ticklish, he didn't fight back as nastily as the girl.

"I'm sure you learned your lesson," he said, finishing off his drink. Riku glanced at Sora and then picked a blade of grass out of the boy's hair.

Sora wanted to glare at Riku, but found he couldn't. Much like Kairi on the first day of school, he just mumbled something incoherent and went through his messy hair, hoping there wasn't anymore grass or leaves in it, that he thought, could be worse than fainting. He started listening to the conversation again, hearing that the topic had changed once again.

"No Kairi, I can't come over tonight," Riku said, ignoring the look of indignation on Kairi's face.

"Why not? You promised! We planned this days ago!" she cried out, a little annoyed.

"It's not my fault, my mom is dragging me out to a friend's," he countered, playing the 'I want to go with you but my mom says I can't' card, it was almost a 'get out of jail free card'. Riku noticed Kairi's dangerous silence, she was thinking, which was bad for him.

"I'll make it up to you later, I promise, we'll do something even better," Riku suggested hoping Kairi would take the bait. She glared at him, and he knew he wouldn't be getting out of this as nicely as he thought.

"You have a lot to make up for, Riku." Kairi complained in a threatening voice.

Riku knew the conversation wasn't over, but he noticed Sora was now listening. He stood up dragging the brunette boy with him to biology, muttering a dismissive 'whatever' to Kairi on his way by.

Sora blinked, wondering if Kairi was going to be mad at him too. He didn't want to say anything to Riku, since he was still fuming.

Biology was almost over when Sora finally gathered the courage to ask a still, rather grumpy Riku the question. He tapped the silver haired boy to wake him up.

"Kairi looked pretty mad, don't you think you should have apologized about the whole thing?" he asked, staring at his desk while Riku groaned and tried to make an answer without the first sentence being 'you woke me up for that?"

"She'll understand, I've seen her more angry than this, and I'm still alive and she's still talking to me," he commented, wanting to go back to sleep. However, he could tell by Sora's concerned expression that this wasn't going to happen.

"It's not like I'm lying to her, I really do have to go with my mom tonight," he added, glad to see Sora was a little happier with the answer, though he still wouldn't meet his eyes. He thought that he was still mad at him, or maybe there was something else that Riku did that he didn't know about.

"Hey Sora," Riku called out, causing the boy in question to turn around. He almost met Riku's eyes but glanced away quickly. Riku was puzzled by the boy's behaviour, but he realized it wasn't the best time to ask about it.

"Never mind," Sora shrugged and walked out of the classroom, heading off to his next class.

Riku let his head hit the desk. He was torn between anger that Sora was being so rude to him, and the emptiness Riku was sure he felt if there was another reason for this behaviour. He wanted to see Sora's bright blue eyes more than once in his life.

-

Sora scribbled the rest of his English homework, writing incoherent sentences, hoping the teacher would think he was just a messy writer and not just writing gibberish just to get it done. He was shoving it in his bag when his mother burst into his room, frowning at the mess.

"Sora! Get this cleaned up! I told you yesterday," she complained, the room was half clean-half messy. She frowned with Sora's indifference.

"Don't lose your head, I'll get it done," he responded, putting his pen away in his thankfully clean desk.

"But Sora, I told you to get it done; an on friend is coming over tonight for dinner," his mother said, satisfied with Sora now rushing around his room cleaning and tidying things up.

"She's bringing her son, so be good, okay?" Sora's mother smiled patting him on the head when he stuck out his tongue at her.

"Be nice, he's about your age,"

Sora glanced up, wondering if he was from school, the obvious answer being yes. He swallowed, hoping he hadn't been someone to see him faint, though he had the heavy feeling that it was. Even though, after a silent three days, Sora was still sure that the teasing would begin at some point. His mother looked down, sizing her son up.

"You should get changed too, isn't that what you wear to bed?" she asked, tugging at the t-shirt's hem. Sora flushed and pushed his mother out of his room, locking the door behind her. He changed his clothes and tidied his room. Soon enough he heard his mother's voice, greeting people at the door.

Sora left his room and tumbled down the stairs before his mother yelled out for him. He glanced up at his mom who smiled and pushed him forward.

"Oh, Harumi, this is my son, Sora. Sora this is my old friend Harumi and her son Riku, was it?" she introduced them, Sora froze mid-hand shake, glancing over, meeting a familiar face.

"Don't worry, I know Sora from school," the silver haired youth smirked, noticing that even after a few days of school Sora still refused to look him in the eye, it was getting annoying. Riku felt like the boy was ashamed of something or just didn't like him. Riku rolled his eyes as Harumi pulled Sora into a hug.

"Ah! You're so cute! Oh, I remember when you were little, it's hard to tell if you're cuter now than then!" She let a stunned Sora out of her grasp, laughing about something with Sora's mother, who turned to her son.

"Dinner's not quite ready so why don't you show Riku around the house?" she suggested turning to chat with her friend. Sora and Riku stood in that awkward silence that every child dragged into a dinner with their parent's friends knew all too well.

He cleared his throat finally, wondering how to survive an evening without meeting Riku's eyes. Sora led him around the house, carrying a rather weak conversation. Sora led Riku up the stairs, knowing his room was the next stop on the rather boring tour.

"And this is my bedroom," Sora opened the first door on the left, and once again he has accidentally opened the door to the closet. He groaned, wondering if he ever get used to the new layout. He blushed as Riku let out a chuckle.

"Wow, roomy, lots of storage space! Though I like having a bed in my room," his smirk faded when once again, Sora wouldn't meet his eyes. Riku sighed silently, wondering what exactly he did to deserve this treatment.

Sora pouted, once again he made of fool of himself. He opened up the actual door to his room.

"This is my room," he corrected himself, walking in about to point out some boring things about his room. Sora was going to point out his rather average view of the ocean when he heard the door shut and the click of the lock. Sora looked over, Riku was glaring at him.

"Uh oh," Sora mumbled, getting even more nervous to be in a room alone with Riku than when he walked into his new high school. At least then there was a place to hide at school. Here there was nothing but those intense eyes studying him.

Riku sighed, even now the brunette was looking down, even if he could tell that the boy was surprised, he thought at least Sora would look at him. He twitched; he had never met anyone like this.

"Look. What did I do to you, Sora? What horrible thing did I do to make you treat me like this? I thought I had been nice to you!" Riku ran a hand through his hair, waiting impatiently for the boy to explain the rude behaviour.

"I... no, it wasn't you. You didn't do anything, I..." Sora muttered, studying the patterns on his blanket. He was surprised to feel Riku lift his chin up, forcing him to look him straight in the eyes. The boy had covered the distance quickly and silently. Sora turned bright red and looking away, trying not to be drawn into Riku's gaze.

"Then why won't you look me in the eyes?" Riku whispered fiercely, searching for an answer. There was a heavy silence in the room, surrounding the two boys.

"I can't," Sora started.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"Last time... I... I don't want to faint," Sora mumbled, waiting for the laughter to start. When it didn't Sora looked up to see a very concerned look on Riku's face.

"What are you going on about? Why would you faint-" Riku paused, turning Sora's face, forcing the shorter boy to look him in the eyes.

Sora gasped in his mind; once again he couldn't help but search those eyes. They were brighter and richer in colour than the sea outside of his window, deeper as well. He didn't want to look away, those eyes, they tore at his soul while he slept; it was unnerving to see them while he was awake. He felt lightheaded, falling back limp.

Riku grabbed the fainted boy around the waist, holding him up. He blinked in confusion, he really did faint. Riku thought back to Sora's first day of school, they did lock eyes before the boy had fainted. Riku felt bad if he was actually the cause of the embarrassing display.

Awkwardly he set the boy down on his bed and sat down himself, poking Sora until he woke up. Eventually Sora stirred awake, looking up to see Riku's neck. He blushed, not believing that he fainted yet again.

"I... I'm sorry," he muttered, seeing an upside down smile appear on the silver-haired boy.

"Aw, I'm glad you're glad awake, I was getting worried," Riku said softly, wondering how to ask his next question, how to carry this conversation.

"So, it's me... causing this?" he asked. Sora nodded, Riku wondered for a moment exactly why.

"It's your eyes," Sora offered, wondering how to not make the explanation sound dumb and rather corny, he decided it wasn't possible, "For the longest time, since I was little, I've seen these eyes in my mind, when I saw yours for the first time... I suppose I get lost in them,"

He blushed, knowing how stupid what he said sounded like, and when he thought he felt Riku laugh. Sora looked up to see not a smirking boy but one who was flushed and trembling a bit.

Riku noticed Sora was looking up at him and he calmed himself down, smiling slightly.

"I won't lie, that's really weird," Riku said. He frowned, he didn't want Sora too keep fainting but he didn't want him to keep avoiding him and looking down when they talked.

He frowned, wondering how to fix the problem of the fainting. Riku pondered and then decided on a strange plan. He stood up, Sora falling down completely on his bed without the support. Riku smirked and leaned over Sora.

"You're looking at me until you stop fainting. When I talk to you, I expect you to look at me," he demanded, looking down at a very confused Sora, who was staring at Riku with wide eyes.

Sora's mind was reeling. He was thinking too much to realize he was looking into Riku's eyes. This boy was straddling him, on his bed, ordering Sora to look at him. Sora was beyond surprised and confused. He finally realized those eyes were piercing his soul, that combined with his confusion about the situation... he fainted quickly.

Riku sighed watching the fainted Sora; he knew they would have to go to dinner soon, he wondered how long this would take. He leaned over more, closer to Sora's face. He had to admit, with that messy hair and that young face, Sora was pretty cute. He had a girlish face, he thought studying the boy's long lashes; which fluttered gently as Sora reawakened.

Sora turned bright red, finding Riku this close to him. What's his damage? He asked himself, frustrated that he could move his arms enough to rub his face because of the other boy.

"Don't you think that this could be bad for me?" he complained, not being able to not look in Riku's eyes.

"I'm sure you'll live,"

Riku smirked at Sora's pout, not feeling any sympathy at the moment. He stared at Sora, as the boy under him blushed furiously, squirming a bit. Riku was sure that was a natural reaction for anyone losing a staring contest. Though, he reasoned, the whole strange bit about his eyes… Riku snorted, could Sora have a crush on him? It would explain the lack of eye contact, but, Riku glanced down at a pouting Sora, he didn't seem the type to act like that. His eyebrows contracted as he thought, gazing fiercely into Sora's eyes, maybe he was just over confident of himself. Kairi teased him saying that Riku thought everyone and their cousin worshipped him.

Sora blushed furiously having to maintain eye contact with Riku, but though he felt light headed, he had yet to faint a third time. He was getting uncomfortable, however, with having the silver-haired boy almost sitting on him. This feeling was not disappearing.

Both boys jumped when Sora's mother's voice carried up the stairs, followed by teasing from Harumi.

"C'mon you two! Time to eat!"

"Yeah, we've called you enough now!"

Riku rolled his eyes, and got off Sora, painfully slow according to the brunette beneath him, who was silently grumbling. Riku ran a hand through his hair, helping a lightheaded Sora to his feet. He noticed how red the boy was, and felt Sora's forehead.

"You look feverish, you know that?" he commented, his handed swatted away by Sora who was fixing his hair.

"It's your fault too, you know that?" Sora taunted, hoping it didn't look like he had fainted twice to his mother, no need to have that awkward conversation.

"I had to do something; I couldn't stand it, you never looked at me," Riku said, opening the door. He was sure, by Sora's faint reaction that the sentence had come out wrong. He shrugged and held the door open for Sora.

Harumi peeked out of the dining room, seeing the two boys finally come down the stairs. She laughed slightly, but covered her mouth. She glanced at Riku, as if asking him something.

"Geez you two, we called you a few times, what were you two doing?" she asked coolly, curious to his son's expression of momentary surprise and then a coy smile.

"Oh, what weren't we doing?" Riku responded to his mother, ignoring a mumbling and red Sora, "Actually Sora was showing me his fish," he lied smoothly, remembering there were fish in the boy's room.

Harumi laughed and shook her head; she wouldn't trade her mischievous, back talking son for anyone. She glanced at Sora and pinched his cheek.

"Don't mind him, he's a softie on the inside, deep, deep down," she winked, sitting down, going back to chat with Sora's mother.

Sora and Riku sat down at the small table across from each other. Sora barely listened to the conversation as he devoured his mother's chicken Kiev. He was half way through his second helping when the two women started talking about Riku and Sora's childhood.

"I know you two wouldn't remember. But when you guys were really little you two were closer than Harumi and I," Sora's mother said, getting puzzled looks from both boy. They glanced at each other before she launched into a story. Riku felt a little shiver run up his spine. Sora had looked him in the eyes (and wasn't down for the count!).

"Oh, remember that day on the beach?" Sora's mother began, getting a nod and a giggle from Harumi.

"Let's see, you two were three or four, we were all down at the beach. Riku was building a charming sand castle and Sora was wading in the shallows, collecting shells to decorate the castle with, since every time poor Sora tried to build a castle it fell over.

'Sora was grabbing a shell near a fish when he burst into tears. The fish has 'bit' him on the toe! Well Riku, you couldn't handle that. You rushed over to see what was wrong. Sora, still crying, pointed to the fish and his foot. You figured it out and tried to make him feel better, but Sora was too busy crying to get out of the water.

'After comforting Sora was a flop, you went after the fish wanting to catch the fish and make it apologize to Sora. Oh, it was so cute, watching you chase that fish all around the shallow water.

'Well when you finally got close enough to grab the fish, it bit you!'

Sora's mother paused to laugh a bit and then continued on with the story.

"Riku, you were fighting back tears, trying to be brave. Sora had already forgotten about his peril and came over to see what was wrong. You showed Sora where you got bit. Well, Sora smiled and kissed your finger to make it better! It was so cute!" Sora's mother smiled at the memory.

Sora couldn't help but like the story, even if he didn't remember it. He looked over to Riku, meeting his eyes a second time before smiling and joining in the laughter.

Riku felt that same shiver again watching Sora laugh and smile. It was as if it was the first time it had happened, but that glance to him, Riku blushed for a moment, hoping that Sora's wonderful smile was just for him.

He grinned with everyone, he didn't remember that time of life at all, it was strange to think he know Sora when they were young. Riku wondered if these borrowed memories of their childhood would affect the present.

Sora's mother and Harumi sat down after dinner munching on desserts and chatting. Riku figured they were going to be a while. He looked over to Sora who was finishing his fourth brownie. He rolled his eyes wondering if the smaller boy ever got full. Before the brunette could reach for fifth square, Riku grabbed him by the arm and dragged him upstairs, bored with listening to his mother talking.

Sora, complaining about, and focusing on the loss of his fifth dessert, found himself back in his bedroom with locking the door. He looked puzzled.

"De... ja... vu?" he said, thinking her said that correctly. However Riku didn't seem the same as before.

Riku chuckled a bit, and then bent down to look at Sora's fish. He tried to remember them just in case his mother questioned him on them. He glanced over at Sora who sat down on the edge of the bed smiling.

"That's Nadia. The blue one at back is Warren and that orangey one is Tree," Sora listed off, pointing the fish out. He turned to look at Riku who seemed disinterested in the fish.

"Who named them?" Riku asked, giving Sora a crooked smile. Who named their fish Warren? Sora laughed a bit; even he thought the names were a bit off.

"The day I bought them, my friends and I were really hyper," Sora explained, remembering the day quite well. Riku raised an eyebrow and Sora continued laughing a bit.

"My friend Ayame named Tree. I named Nadia and Saki named Warren," Sora started to laugh, and getting a puzzled look from Riku, Sora thought she should explain more.

"Well, we all were naming the wrong fish and we mixed up all the colours. We thought it was funny and so the names stuck," Sora's giggles quieted down when Riku stood up, looking down at Sora.

His mother was calling; it was time to go.

Riku bent over and pressed his lips to Sora's forehead. Without a word he walked out of the room leaving a stunned Sora in silence.

-

Kari: Wow! Chapter Two Done already!?

Riku: Shouldn't you be doing schoolwork?

Kari: But this is special!

Riku: No, this is folly, you are 'special'

Kari: Are you being mean again?

Riku: Maybe, how would you know?

Kari: That's it! This will not end well.

Riku: What are you going to do? You're not scary.

Kari: I control what happens to you and Sora.

Riku: :: gulp::

::Kari walks off laughing evilly ::

Sora: What'd you do now?

Riku: shuddap.

Sora: No really! What happened? I'm confused.

Riku: … -.-


	3. Hold Steady

Dive into the Horizon 

_**Disclaimer: Nope, Sorry folks, I still don't own Kingdom Hearts. When (read: if) I take over the Disney (and/or Square), you people will be the first to know!**_

**Rating:** pg-13… still. For now.

**Author's Note:** Woo. Chapter Three already? How did I manage that? I dunno. Conflicts! Conflicts! Let's see today we have a confused Sora, a grumpy Riku, a love struck Kairi and Sora's mom! I like this chapter, though it's not very fluffy, actually… I'm forgetting if Riku and Sora even meet in this chapter… Oh well… Oops, I was so excited to post chapter two I forgot the review responses… … they're here instead okies? I think this was why Riku was yelling at me ::sweatdrop:: Oh dear, Somehow country music found its way into my play-list!!! ::dies:: darn you George Strait! Write this Down!

Response to Reviews: 

**Slashapalooza-** I am writing! Ah! Not the look!! ::runs and cowers from Slashapalooza's omniscience:: Chapter 3 & 4 coming up soon I promise (wait, this is chapter 3… 0.o)

**LiLi-sama – **I am glad you like it, I will keep writing!

**Alazzerath –** You have a cool name by the way, I hope you will continue to read it!

**Inuyasha999- **Sora will get over it, I'm sure.

**Ink2 –** Did I make you sad? I'm sorry! Hee hee, I like the fish scene too! Muwa hahahahahaha cute! ::pinches Riku's cheeks:: your actions, and therefore you are cute! (Riku: Do you want to die a horrible death?)

Will's Girl – I'm glad you like it! I hope more is better because there is a lot more coming! 

**Twilight-archer –** Well, really it was only on the forehead. Maybe Sora will get a proper kiss later. Kairi? Don't worry about her! ::wink:: I'm actually glad someone out there is thinking of Kairi! you are now my friend. lol (Riku is saying "poor you,")

**Evil-Kirie –** How did I miss you? 0.o Oh well out of order is fun! I am writing more as I type.. well almost.

Chapter 3: Hold Steady 

Sora pushed his face into his pillow, his cheeks burning. He held his breath as long as he could before raising his head to make sure his mother hadn't walked in or anything. He hadn't slept a wink that night; all he could think about was Riku. Sora had been so stunned that he hadn't even gone down to say goodbye. He looked over to his alarm clock; it glowed half past three in the morning.

_Figures,_ he thought. No wonder there was no chance for his mother to walk in. He groaned as he rolled over to stare at the ceiling, what was he going to do? One of his new friends had just kissed him. Albeit, on the forehead, but Sora wasn't that dense, he could feel the restrained feeling behind it. He couldn't even sort things out in his head.

"Isn't he going out with Kairi?" Sora asked himself quietly. He narrowed his blue eyes; Riku's actions were making less and less sense. Why would he do such a thing? Although, Sora reasoned, he hadn't actually asked if the two were together, but he was very sure they were. The way they acted, it seemed only natural. When he had dated Ayame, none of his friends had to be up front and ask; it just got around they were. He wouldn't feel right going up to either Riku or Kairi to ask if they were going out.

He rolled over, staring at the wall, resting his chin on his pillow. How could he handle this? Sora sighed, deciding to try and forget what he felt when Riku had touched him and make himself believe Riku was just acting like from the story. He groaned, knowing it wouldn't work.

Sora wasn't expecting to sleep at all the rest of the weekend.

By the time breakfast finally rolled around, Sora was not only exhausted but grumpy as well. He wasn't one to stay up all night. He had never done it before, and he found, as he sat down for breakfast, he didn't like it. He rubbed his face frantically, trying to stay awake. His mother looked at him strangely. Was it possible that Sora had even worse bed head than usual?

"Are you alright honey?" she asked, putting a plate of waffles in front of Sora. Sora's mother gave a hesitant smile.

"I'll be fine, I just didn't sleep well, that's all," Sora said, picking at his waffles, as if unsure he really wanted them or not.

"Well, I hope you'll feel better soon," his mother sounded like she had a plan in mind. Sora glanced up, still poking his breakfast.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Oh Sora, you never listen! I told you yesterday we were going to have a picnic today," 

Sora, though wanting to go on the defensive about the remark, did not want to tell his mother why he was having trouble remembering anything about yesterday, except Riku. He flushed slightly at the thought and then forced himself to eat two of his waffles, so his mother wouldn't worry. He watched her for most of the morning, helping her getting ready for the picnic. It was around noon when they finally left the house, heading to a small peninsula away from the now busy town.

They finally settled on the grass under the shade of a paopu tree, its trunk leaning out over the aqua water. The picnic was set up close enough to enjoy the shore, without the messiness of the sand dunes. Sora laid out the food and juice, watching his mother grow more and more distracted. After she accidentally tipped over a glass of juice, Sora had to ask.

"See? Now you're the one acting strangely," he said, raising an eyebrow when his mother turned to him, acting like it was the first time she had noticed her son's presence. He cleaned up the spill before any insects noticed it.

"Sorry dear, I'm just… This place… Do you know the last time I had a picnic here?" she finally said, laughing a softly at Sora's small pout. Even she knew it wasn't good when mothers' spoke like this. They were supposed to be articulate and know exactly what to say. A stuttering mother? That was dangerous.

Sora shook his head. He didn't remember anything about the islands, or was she forgetting that too? He didn't think he was the best person to reminiscence with about the past. He had been very small when they left. His mother gave a small smile.

"Of course you don't, and heavens' know I hadn't even thought about it until now. The last time I had a picnic in the islands it was with your father. It was my favourite kind of date, do you know that?" she paused, remembering something, her eyes dancing happily before dimming a bit with another memory, "I liked spending time with your father in the sunlight. It seemed warmer than the usual evening get-togethers,"

"Maybe because it was the daytime?" Sora asked, getting frustrated with his mother. Was she going to come to a point? More importantly, did Sora even want to know what her point was? He didn't like the shadow in her eyes; he had fought long enough to be rid of it. Sora didn't want it creeping back again.

"Now, now," his mother chided, continuing with her story as if he hadn't said anything, "I liked them because it didn't seem like we were hiding or anything. Night-time, it just seems so secretive. Besides this, the last time I was here with your father, he…" Sora's mother touched her cheek lightly, as if trying to hold on to a memory of a touch that was slipping away.

"He asked me to marry him. Everything was so sweet; all the dishes he had made had paopu fruit in them. So adamant in his desire to have me by his side," she said after a moment, smiling sadly. Though the memory had been sweet, it was now tainted.

Sora frowned, leaning over to grasp his mother's hand. He didn't need her to speak to know how it ended. That was something etched clearly in his mind. Sora didn't need a story to know about the shouting, about the one-sided arguments, about the late night tears.

"He was the sweetest boy I had ever known that day," she said, squeezing Sora's hand, knowing her son had packed all his fond memories of his father up and hid them from himself, to try and protect his heart, to forget he loved him.

Sora looked up meeting her eyes, a mirror image of his own, wondering how she could say such a thing. He didn't think he could picture his father in such a way. His mother smiled knowing he was trying to reconcile things in his head. _Maybe later,_ she thought. It was a story for later.

"Aren't you going to eat something? You need your strength if you're going to try and stay awake all night again," she said, pleasantly satisfied with Sora's gaping mouth, which was soon filled with a sandwich to hide the muttering; though it was hard for her son to hide the red cheeks.

Munching on the sandwich, Sora refrained himself from asking questions, wondering how exactly she knew he had been up. It worried him that she knew; it meant she had been up all night too. He wondered if he had been that loud. Sora didn't think he had been talking to himself out loud, though sometimes he got confused on exactly what things he had said out loud and what he had just thought to himself in the eternal commentary in his mind about the world.

.:---:.

"You have yet to even begin to fix things between us, Riku," Kairi said, tossing her short red hair from her face, coming out of the fourth store that afternoon. Riku, the penitent followed behind, adding another shopping bag to his collection. Every store Kairi had led him into turned into another bill. Even the thought of how much work he would have to do to return his bank account to normal after this was mind blowing and Riku didn't want to think about it.

"Well then, how many accessories and outfits is it going to take?" he said, lifting the bags up in example. Riku wasn't thrilled when Kairi laughed in response. She led the way up the main street of the shopping district.

"I think I will forgive you when that's doubled," she said, pretending to think about it. Kairi grinned at Riku's hopeless expression and walked into another store that had silver and gold accessories in its window. Riku sighed and followed in, quite resigned to his fate.

"I'm just afraid of the penalty when it's actually my fault," he said, as Kairi inspected some necklaces. Riku had stopped paying attention to the prices two stores before.

"Oh you'll pay with a pound of flesh, including the blood," she said sweetly, ignoring Riku's distaste for Shakespeare. She held up a delicate silver chain with a clear crystal orchid in bloom as its pendant.

"What do you think?" she asked, deciding if she wanted it while Riku was allowed to put in his two cents.

"I swear I already bought you one like that," Riku muttered, knowing it was already a done deal. He just wondered how many more things Kairi would want from this store. He shifted the shopping bags around, knowing it was another punishment for canceling their movie night yesterday. Usually Kairi liked carrying shopping bags. Riku figured it was her inner proud hunter shining through, wanting to show off her catches.

"So what was so important last night that you had to ditch me?" Kairi asked, choosing some dangly pretty earrings.

"My mom dragged me over to an old friend's house for dinner. It actually turned out to be not that bad," Riku said calmly, hoping Kairi wouldn't go from idle conversation to intense interrogation.

"Really? Why was that? Usually those things are so boring, parents babbling on about things they think are important. I always try to get out of them. It's like the only time my brothers and I work together," she said, thinking of her two brothers, wondering just how they were related. They were savages to her. Kairi studied a package of earrings, smaller ones than the other pair she had already decided on.

"I wasn't alone in my generation at the dinner," Riku explained, knowing Kairi wasn't really listening. She seemed too busy spending his money. "Sora was there. Supposedly our mom's were friends."

That caught Kairi's attention, who turned from a silver and blue skirt. She raised an eyebrow, having to make a quick decision in her mind.

If Riku had known Sora was going to be there when he cancelled with her, this was a big problem, to lie and ditch his best friend without an apology. Then she would have to be angry with him, not just annoyed, and it would demand a lot more from Riku than just a shopping trip. If Riku knew he was going to Sora's house and hid it from Kairi, then that would be an argument at least, maybe with some time of not talking to him.

However, if Riku hadn't known and Sora was a surprise to him that he was casually hiding from Kairi, then she felt it was okay and she wouldn't have to fight with the silver haired boy anymore. Glancing into his eyes, Kairi decided this was the case, though she did wonder why Riku was acting so guarded about the night.

That was how Riku acted when he was guarded: Being casual and mentioning things when he knew she wasn't paying attention. Kairi sighed and went over to the cashier, earrings and skirt in hand. Riku was going to pay for not telling her the whole truth right away. Literally.

"Are you finished yet?" Riku asked, punching in his pin number as his bank account was draining. He now understood why girls needed boyfriends. Going shopping was very expensive.

"You asked that when we came in, silly," Kairi teased, heading off to the next store on the street, which happened to be a very trendy café. She paused only for moment to let Riku open the door for her, struggling with the many bags.

"Can't I at least combine some of these?" Riku asked, standing in line, waiting for Kairi to decide on what she wanted. He had already decided on a cup of coffee, something normal and with caffeine.

"That would make things easier, like, if you told me what was going on and sounded at least a bit disappointed that you couldn't spend time with me," she answered, smiling slightly at the exhausted groan. Kairi smiled and ordered a 'strawberries and crème' cream frappachino and a piece of vanilla cake for herself when she got to the cashier. Riku ordered his cup of coffee and paid for it. This was one of the cheaper stops on the shopping spree, costing just over ten dollars.

They sat down outside under a white umbrella, Riku settling himself down surrounded by all of Kairi's purchases. He sipped his coffee, glad she was enjoying herself. He just hoped she'd offer to share the cake. It looked good but he didn't want to spend even more money on his own piece.

"Two more shops and your apology will be accepted," Kairi said, sipping her drink and looking around.

Riku rolled his eyes, pretty sure he hadn't even said he was sorry for missing her movie night, though he was. Movie night at Kairi's house was, in the least, an adventure. He grabbed her fork while she wasn't watching and took a chunk of her cake. Riku glanced up when he didn't hear the squeal.

Kairi looked spaced out, looking over at something. Riku turned in his chair to follow her gaze and his eyes landed on a tall young man, looking a little out of place with his dark suit. Riku raised an eyebrow. Dark hair, barely shorter than his own. He assessed him as a minor threat to his own attractiveness. He looked too old to be in the café. This was a popular spot for students in the town.

"Like his tight butt or is it his hair, Kairi?" he asked, shaking the red haired girl out of her daze. She frowned.

"Yes and yes, I think he's hot," She admitted readily, Kairi was always checking out guys with Riku. With Riku, scoping out guys was like spending a day with a kid infected with a strange kind of ADD. Riku was always jumping from guys to girls, not being able to make up his mind which person he wanted more.

"Come on, he's wearing a suit!" Riku protested, not seeing what Kairi saw.

"You're just jealous because you couldn't pull that look off," she snapped, knowing the man was hot and Riku was just in denial. She pouted; maybe it was because he had someone else on his mind.

"Ha! It's the look that's off," 

"Would it be better if he spiked his hair up and wore clothes more like Sora?" Kairi asked, knowing Riku was too busy defending his position to notice what she said.

"Of course, he'd look ten times hotter if he dressed like Sor… Kairi!" Riku stopped himself and glared at her, willing the light blush away from his cheeks.

Kairi gave a rather sinister giggle, "I thought your guy scoping mind was elsewhere," she said simply, ignoring the incoherent arguments from Riku. Kairi finished off her cake. She stood up, ready to go shop again.

"And just for not telling me about Sora, you're going to buy me a nice silver ring," she said, opening the door to the jewelry store on the corner.

"There is nothing to say, you tricked me," Riku complained. However, he accepted the penalty for letting her trap him like that without argument. He swallowed nervously when Kairi starting looking at some of the trendy rings. Riku was sure the cheapest there was around twenty dollars. He feared for the safety of his financial future.

"I find that hard to believe. I saw that look when you tackled him the other day," Kairi commented, trying on a ring with intertwined swirls making an almost heart shape when they met. She liked it; the swirls looked like waves. With things going like this, Riku might have some of his afternoon free.

"What look? I tackled him because he ate all the dumplings," Riku defended, handing his debit card over to the cashier. Kairi had decided on the ring. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.

"Then you didn't even notice it. You want him though, don't you?" Kairi asked smiling, happy at the purchase and ignoring Riku's less than subtle twitching.

"No, I…" Riku thought about it for a moment, "I don't know," he said after searching his feelings for Sora. He really couldn't tell. Riku knew the first day at lunch he was being friendly and feeling a lot of pity for the new-kid, but he would have done that for anyone; Especially after Sora's display in homeroom. Though, now, after the dinner, after Sora's story about his fish, and the kiss, he wasn't so sure. Riku decided, without telling Kairi, that he was on the edge from friendship and the great unknown.

"Sora's a lot more open when you're not around. Maybe he has a crush on you," Kairi said, thinking about how friendly Sora was when Riku wasn't around. When Riku came into a scene, Sora always seemed to be looking at the ground. She was surprised when Riku shook his head.

"No, that was something else," Riku commented, holding the door open for Kairi, glad, at least, that the bag was small.

"How do you know?" Kairi asked.

"I think I fixed that little problem last night," he said, regaining his cool smirk. Kairi gave a laugh.

"There's my Riku!" she said, hugging him. It was the first time all day that Riku had acted like his normal self. Kairi was glad to have him back. He laughed at her hug and then hefted the bags up.

"Let's go see a movie to make up for last night," Riku suggested, gesturing to the movie theatre on the next block.

"Your treat?" Kairi asked hopefully.

"The last one of the day for you."

"Yay!" Kairi jumped in a fit of joy and raced the silver haired boy to the box office. Riku following, shaking his head at her juvenile behaviour.

.:---:.

"Are you sure you'll be okay going home?" Sora asked his mother, who waved him off again. She had finished picking up the picnic and was ready to walk home. She smiled and pointed towards downtown.

"I thought there was a movie you wanted to see. Go see it now, I'm horrible company for a teenaged boy," she said, giving Sora a wink and pushed him in the right direction.

"Are you sure? You're wonderful company, mom!" Sora said adamantly, hoping she really didn't think she was boring or depressing or, worse, old.

"Go Sora, I'll get home fine," she said, making sure Sora had started walking to the movie theatre before heading the opposite way, to their house. She sighed, hoping the movie would take Sora's mind off his father and the past. Since that was just what it was, the past, she didn't think Sora should still have to dwell on it.

Sora paid for his ticket, still a little upset that his mother had pretty much forced him to go to the movie. He was worried about her; she hadn't acted like that in a long time. He absent mindedly found his way to the theatre, wondering idly if there was something wrong with the island's water supply that made people act strangely. First Riku the night before and now his mother. Sora sighed; he didn't understand.

He was beginning to plan his escape from society and his future as a hermit in the mountains with his fish when Sora entered the theatre and started to look for a seat. Sora glanced around and thought he had found a free seat a few rows down when a pile of bags were plopped down in it. Sora glanced up at the taker of his seat and almost fell back into an elderly woman.

Riku. With Kairi.

Sora swallowed. This clinched it, the two were going out, he decided, watching the two flirt while taking their seats. He found a seat a few rows above them and sat down quickly, finding himself spying on them.

He had never spied on anyone before.

Well, okay, so Saki had dragged him to a festival and the movies and then to the mall to follow Ayame and her new boyfriend that one time. Oh and then there was that other time when Saki dragged him to go spy on a boy she liked for a whole day. And he was pretty sure that when Saki asked him to be his partner for a class hike in the woods, they had been spying on Ayame and her boyfriend at the time. That time was Sora's fault because he had mentioned to Saki about his crush on Ayame and Saki was then even more determined to break them up.

Sora reasoned that Saki seemed to bring him along a lot for spying. But this happened to be the first time he had spied on his own. He shook his head mentally; he was sure Saki would be very proud of him. This disturbed Sora and confirmed that what he was doing was very wrong.

He barely watched the movie, glancing down at the flash of movement from his friends below. Sora's vivid imagination was telling him that Riku was probably being all smooth and suggestive to Kairi who was probably giggling and blushing like mad. He even missed the climax of the movie when he thought he had seen the two kiss.

'How could they just kiss like that in the middle of a public place?' Sora thought indignant, and then reasoned that 'a', they were going out, 'b' it was a dark public place and 'c' lots of people made out during movies.

By the end of the movie, Sora was almost paranoid in his watching of Riku and Kairi, trying to analyze everything they were doing, every gesture Riku made when he talked, the way Kairi drank her soda. They were all clues. All clues to the simple fact that the two were a couple and led to further confusion in Sora's mind on why exactly he cared so much that the two were going out, and exactly why he thought it hurt him to know that.

The credits ran and Riku and Kairi got up to leave, Kairi taking some of the bags from the shopping spree. Sora looked around, panicking slightly, not wanting the two to see him. Sora ducked down, falling to the sticky floor, crouching so that the couple didn't see him as they walked out of the movie, laughing to themselves.

"What are you doing ya' hooligan?" the grumpy older woman standing beside Sora complained. He was blocking the way. Was it enough he almost crashed into her at the beginning of the film but now he was investigating the floor?

"S-Sorry!" Sora squealed, running off into the crowd, still nervous.

"Kids these days…" 

Sora calmed his beating heart while sneaking his way out of the theatre without Riku or Kairi seeing him, or so he hoped. He hadn't felt a pair of aqua eyes on him as he dashed out of the theatre and quickly to his house.

"I wonder why he didn't say 'hi'," Riku mumbled to himself, getting a look from Kairi, who hadn't seen Sora.

"What did you say?" Kairi asked, looking intently up at Riku for an answer.

"Nothing," He slid by with a cocky grin, leading her out of the lobby.

"A pretty disappointing 'nothing', Riku," Kairi said, annoyed, folding her arms across her chest. There he went again, hiding things from her.

"Remember what happened last time when you didn't tell me the whole truth?" she threatened, holding up the shopping bags.

Riku rolled his eyes slightly but decided, for the safety of his wallet, to tell her the truth.

"I thought I saw Sora coming out of our theatre," he commented smoothly, turning the corner towards Kairi's house.

"Really? Too bad he didn't sit with us; he would have made that horrible movie bearable!" Kairi grinned, acting out a very melodramatic scene in the movie, with a chuckling Riku joining in.

Even the most boring movies were better with friends. At least then you could have a running commentary how just how horrible and corny the movie was. Riku grabbed Kairi by the waist and twirled her around, enacting the scene where the heroine and her prince danced and fell in love under the watch of her controlling uncle. It was the cheesiest scene in the movie, except perhaps the ending. Kairi laughed and opened the door to her house, ignoring the screams of her brothers upstairs.

"Yeah too bad he didn't sit with us. With him we could have parodied most of the scenes," she said, leading the way to her bedroom to stash her shopping bags before they were taken hostage by her brothers.

"Oh well. Maybe he didn't see us," Riku suggested, figuring that statement was far from the truth. Kairi smiled and started putting her purchases away, reminding Riku of his light wallet.

"I can't believe you spent all my money!" Riku complained, flopping back on her bed and glaring at a poster of a band.

"What are friends for?" Kairi grinned, throwing a pillow at Riku.

.:---:.

_His hair pushed back with deft and slender fingers, the scent of the ocean from the open window, the scent of the person over him. A slight pressure on his forehead, soft, the feeling of his breath on his skin. The heat rising to his cheeks, the heat of his lips leaving the spot on his forehead and it was gone._

Sora blushed and felt his forehead. Did he really care that much about some stupid kiss? He shook his head. Of course not; he was just being silly. Sora was told by many that he let his imagination run away far too often. However, when the pit of his stomach dropped and his chest tightened when he thought of Riku, Sora knew he was firmly standing on the ground.

But still.

He shook his head, trying to forget it. Riku was going out with Kairi. Sora ran the rest of the way home and stayed in his bed the rest of the afternoon and through the evening. He wished he could stay there forever.

.:---:.

**Kari:** Yay! Chapter three is done!

**Riku**: That was like the crappiest ending…

**Kari:** Whatever. I like it.

Riku: … 

**Kari:** I'll start chapter 4 for you!

**Riku:** fine, I'll forgive you.

**Kari:** really?

**Riku:** no.


	4. Check the Bearings

**Dive into the Horizon**

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Kingdom Hearts this wouldn't be a fan fic would it? And I would be rich, wouldn't I? I'd be publishing this and making you good folks pay! BUT! I do not own kingdom hearts and therefore, I am not making money off this; I'm in it for the love!

**Rating:** PG-13… still. Darn, eh?

**Author's Note:** Thanks to Slashy-chan for beta-ing chapter three for me, I am beta-less and she is being a super pal to do that! You rock! Weee! Chapter Four, in which a lot happens! And we see the slight threat to Riku's attractiveness again! (Of course you knew he had a purpose right?) Riku also starts paying attention in biology class.Slashy-chan said she was going to be my beta. ::worships her:: Everyone join in with me. She rocks, so nice and understanding….On that note, has anyone caught the trend with the titles of the chapters? I'm not sure how long I can keep this up!

**((Edit: Did it work???? Stupid crap... this is my... eighth time uploading it. It's allll correct everywhere else, in Word, in Netscape, in the PREVIEW section here... ::sweatdrop:: I'll have to kill soon....)) **

**.::---::.**

**Response to Reviews:**

**Fallen Angel0104-** My first demand to update! Woo! Yay!

**Chibi-Neko-Sora- **::thinks your name is delicious:: Never fear, there are many more chapters! lol yup yup yup. I'm glad you like it, or at least think it's cute!

**Slashy-chan- **Yay! You beta-ed this chapter too! Unless as I send this to you and you get like totally mad at me or something and then you like throw it in the garbage and finally yell at me for being crazy and… ::cries:: don't hate me!!! The titles have lots to do with boats and crap and maybe even the story line. Maybe.

**Rogue Solus-** I just updated! But I shall update it another… 20 something times or so. Yup. I am glad you like it!

**Ink2- **Riku is… a sucker. He's a softy deep down and believe me; his bank account suffers when Kairi gets mad at him. She plans for when they get in a fight, finding things she wants to buy ahead of time…::sweatdrop::

**Twilight-archer-** Heh. Kairi's beau has already been introduced but no one noticed. He's in this chapter, too. Mwa hahaha. It is Riku's fault. It's Kairi's duty to make him owe up for ditching her.

**.::---::.**

**Chapter 4: Check the Bearings**

"Oh right, and tomorrow we're getting a new student teacher, isn't that quaint?" Riku drawled. The announcements had been both tedious and long, especially from him. Riku just wanted to settle down in the back of the class and finally gather the courage to ask Sora the question that had been burned in his mind for almost a week now.

With some whispering about yet another newcomer to the class, which he didn't dispel like usual, Riku sat down in his seat. He glanced sideways at Sora, who seemed engrossed in the doodles along the margin of his paper. He sighed and turned to the other side to quietly chat with Kairi, who was excited about the student teacher.

"I hope they're nice, or at least cute," she said hopefully, starting to copy down the note of the day, which was about using idioms properly.

"Yeah, I hope it's a hot chick. I can seduce her during break," Riku chuckled, scribbling down the title, but, disappointingly, was still able to make it neat.

"Pfft, you're really into your fantasy world lately," Kairi rolled her eyes. The last female student teacher they had was really nervous and almost broke into tears a few times.

"No, no, dear Kairi, my fantasy world is becoming reality," Riku smirked, glancing hastily over to Sora, who was still doodling, half writing down the note.

"He seems even more out of it than usual," Kairi commented, following Riku's gaze. She smiled, satisfied with Riku's slight flush.

"I guess. He's been weird for a while now though," Riku sighed slightly; he hadn't even been able to have a normal conversation with Sora since the dinner. At school Sora was always running away from Kairi when Riku approached them. And getting Sora alone? He seemed to always have somewhere to go right away. At home, he was always too busy to come to the phone, or he was asleep. Sora was harder to get a hold of than a fist full of water.

"Did you do anything to him, Riku?" Kairi asked, writing down the points the teacher had written out on an over head.

"No, that's the problem. I haven't had a decent conversation with the boy, in, like, forever," Riku said, now doodling himself, the note was too boring to write.

"Well I have and all he asks about is you. Then you appear and he runs off," Kairi said knowingly, she paused, "It's total elementary school behaviour, don't you think?"

"I'm not sure, Sora doesn't seem the type to act like that," Riku said, pretty sure that Sora almost always had a reason for his actions, even if his reasons were impossible to find or to understand. Or just plain silly.

"Maybe you should tackle him the next time he tries to run away," Kairi laughed, not meaning it. She looked up and was startled by the scheming look on Riku's face.

"I was kidding!" she cried out, a little louder than she should have. A few people, including Sora turned to look at the two. Riku covered her mouth and gave the rest of the class a coy smile. He looked over at Sora who turned away quickly.

Riku frowned at Sora. It wasn't fair; it was like there was something was between them. Riku thought he had fixed that 'something' with the staring match-a-thon. He was sure Sora could look him in the eye now without fainting. He was sure there shouldn't be a problem between them. However, for all the 'sures' in his mind, Riku, for the first time in a long time, was feeling quite unsure about his position with Sora. He wanted things to be clear.

That was why, when the teacher asked for two volunteers to go pick up copies of 'A Tale of Two Cities' for the class, Riku didn't hesitate to raise his hand. However, he did hesitate for a moment before standing up, while the teacher was still deciding on the volunteers, to announce that he was going to get them, no other volunteers needed.

"Sora and I will get them," Riku said, pulling Sora along behind him as he walked out of the classroom. Their teacher just shook his head at Riku's eagerness and went back to his notes.

"Well that was subtle," Kairi complained softly, going back to writing her note.

Riku and Sora rounded the corner and headed down the hall to the English supply room. Sora, grumbling to himself, finally yanked his hand free from the class representative.

"Did you have to drag me along?" Sora complained; it had been the first thing he had said to Riku in two days. He stopped in the middle of the empty hall and stared, waiting for Riku to explain his actions.

"You seemed bored and this is something to do," Riku reasoned, walking to the room, leaving Sora to catch up. He was secretly relieved when Sora finally ran to catch up with him. He looked over and found Sora slightly red and pouting. He figured the flush was from running down the long hall.

"Kairi was bored too," Sora pointed out while Riku fiddled with the door's lock. Riku finally pushed the door open and started searching the shelves for the books. Sora rolled his eyes, found the switch and turned on the light.

"She was taking notes and you weren't. Is it really that horrible to be getting books with me? Most people would kill for a chance to get out of that class," Riku said without turning around. He threw a copy of 'A Handmaid's Tale' into the garbage casually; he disliked English class with a passion. He tossed a few other titles out of the way, trying to see the books behind them.

"Yeah right," Sora flicked through a stack of Shakespeare, looking up only when the door clicked shut. It must have closed on its own. He blinked in confusion when Riku turned and swore.

"What?" Sora asked, finally finding a box of Dickens. However a Tale wasn't in it.

"Sora! The door locks on its own! From the outside!" Riku hit his forehead, having to explain things out for Sora. A lot of doors closed and locked on their own in the school. It was a security feature to try and stop stealing. However, going by the dust on most of the books, the English supply closet wasn't a well-used room. Riku sat down on a case of grammar books and sighed.

"Oh. Well, someone from our class will come and find us when we don't come back right away," Sora said, not too concerned, still on the search for 'A Tale of Two Cities'. He searched the shelves above Riku, who was preoccupied with being locked in a supply room. He finally looked up, watching Sora stretch himself to read the titles, his tongue sticking out a bit in concentration. He looked away quickly before Sora noticed him staring.

"You're either stupidly optimistic, or this has happened to you before," Riku ventured, opening a book he found on a shelf. It was a play. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and put it back.

"Oh, well, it's not that bad. It could be worse. Are you always so melodramatic?" Sora asked, sitting down himself, finding a box of novels to be a nice chair.

"Well, unlike you, I haven't been locked in a closet before," Riku said slyly, figuring it was the only reason Sora wasn't hitting himself. He looked over to see that Sora was engrossed in a book of short stories. He sighed and grabbed the book, taking it away from Sora.

"It wasn't as if it was my fault. My friend was really mad and slammed the door and forgot it locked. We just waited patiently until help…what?" Sora explained, pouting a bit remembering that, though he had waited patiently while Saki plotted revenge and tore through boxes trying to find a perfect murder weapon. He blinked, not understanding Riku's intent look.

"Sora, can I ask you something?" Riku shifted himself to look at Sora who fell off his box onto the floor in surprise.

"What? Why? Ask what?" Sora blushed and looked around, realizing that there was no where to run. He would actually have to confront Riku.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. Sora, you seem to be running away from me. It's even worse than when you wouldn't look at me," Riku said, remaining calm. Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Riku! Me? I'm the one acting weird? What about you?" Sora argued, pointing an accusing finger toward Riku, who gave him a strange look.

"What? At least I don't run away from you," Riku still trying to understand exactly what Sora was going on about. What did he do now?

"You kissed me!" Sora burst out, bright red in the face. There! He said it! Now they could both be awkward around each other.

Riku had to make a spilt second decision in his mind about what to say. He was surprised that Sora was still thinking about it. He just wished he knew if it was because Sora liked him or was disgusted by it.

"So what?" Riku frowned, hoping Sora would say something more. He kneeled down in front of Sora on the floor.

"You kissed me! Doesn't that mean anything to you? If it didn't, why did you do it in the first place?" Sora looked adamant and a little hurt; he was getting the idea that it hadn't meant anything to Riku.

"I kissed you because I like you, Sora," Riku admitted, surprised at what he said. He ran his hand through his hair, watching Sora's expression change from doubt to surprise.

Sora sat for a moment, going in and out of shock. Did he just get a confession out of Riku? He was even redder now, and his mind was reeling. He didn't know what to think. Did he even like Riku back? Sora had been told he by his friends in his old town that he didn't seem interested in girls too much, but he had never heard someone confess like this, especially not someone like Riku. He looked around; this kind of thing was a reason he hadn't wanted to talk to Riku, but not one that had come to his mind at all.

He waited for a minute or two in heavy silence trying to find his voice.

"What?" Sora finally managed to vocalize. He stared at Riku in both embarrassment and amazement.

"I said I like you," Riku repeated, only now starting to realize the weight of that sentence. He felt a little warm; he was usually the one fending off confessions from people. Riku frowned a bit, wondering exactly how Sora felt about this. Well he supposed there was at least one way to test whether Sora liked him back.

"I heard you the first time," Sora muttered, flushing. He wondered how long it would be until someone came and found them. He would barely be able to make out the sound of footsteps if someone walked by because of the heavy steel door.

"Really? I don't think you understand though. Let me try again," Riku said softly, leaning over a puzzled Sora who opened his mouth to question what exactly the silver haired boy was doing. However, Riku saw his chance and pressed his lips against Sora's open mouth.

Sora's eyes widened. Well. Now he could yell at Riku for properly kissing him. He turned even redder, if that was possible. However, he didn't fight back at all, not seeing the point, especially when it felt so nice.

Riku would have smiled but he was too busy deepening the kiss, trying to slip his tongue into the brunette's mouth. He held the back of Sora's neck, pulling him closer, changing the kiss from a desperate expression of Riku's muddled feelings to a gentler kiss and then back again to a more passionate exchange. He only reluctantly pulled away from Sora's delicious lips when he heard a startled gasp.

"Oh my god! Riku!"

Kairi had been about to say, 'there you two are' but the scene in front of her had been too much of a surprise. She blushed furiously and then fled from the door and ran around the corner.

Kairi had been deathly bored in class, especially since she was finished taking the note and was now drowning in a stagnant discussion as the teacher and the same few people argued passionately about English. Usually she was one of them but today the topic didn't excite her at all. She turned to chat with Riku when she realized they still weren't back.

She frowned; Riku wasn't one to dawdle in the halls. He thought skipping class and staying in the school was one of the lamest things someone could do. Kairi wondered if they were having any trouble with the books.

Knowing the stubborn and arrogant Riku, he would rather spend hours in a dusty supply room than go ask someone for help.

She had picked up Riku's extra key set for the school (he had taken the teacher's) and had politely excused herself from a distracted English class and headed to the English supply room.

Kairi found the door shut but, listening to it for a moment, she was sure she could hear talking behind it.

She shook her head. Figures, Kairi thought. It makes sense for those two to get locked in there. Neither seemed practical enough to make a door stop with a box or a heavy book.

But all that was a moment, or, as it seemed, a lifetime ago. Now, Kairi was around the corner in a stairwell, falling to the floor.

Laughing.

That's how Riku found her a few moments later. He frowned at the gales of laughter the red head was emitting. He put his hands on his hips waiting for Kairi to calm down enough to breathe. Every giggle was stabbing him where it hurt most: his pride. After three full minutes of laughter, he gently kicked her leg.

"Are you done yet?" Riku asked, not looking very amused. Kairi looked up and giggled a bit more.

"My poor virgin eyes!" She exclaimed, falling back into laughter.

Riku rolled his eyes and kicked his friend again. He was not appreciating her reaction. After a bit more, her laughter started to die down and he pulled her to her feet. Kairi was still catching her breath, giggling every once and a while.

"You have to be the biggest slut I know. I can't believe you kissed him. At school, for crying out loud!" Kairi shook her head, patting Riku on the shoulder in a congratulatory gesture. Riku didn't deny the accusation but he thought she was being a bit harsh.

"We were locked in a closet, Kairi. That's pretty private. Besides, it was only a kiss," Riku tried to shrug it off as his normal behaviour. He had done worse during class. Though, as he thought back, this felt very different.

"I saw that kiss. That wasn't just a peck or anything," Kairi argued, making Riku flush a bit. He was used to Kairi ignoring his romantic adventures. He sighed, knowing this thing with Sora wouldn't be the same.

"Whatever. Are you finished?" Riku asked. Kairi shook her head, laughing a bit and grabbing Riku's hand.

"Is he a good kisser? Could you tell? He looked like he was enjoying it," Kairi ranted, causing Riku to chuckle. He liked the kiss well enough, until she interrupted it.

"I'm not going to tell you," Riku smirked, heading back to the supply room, hoping Sora was okay.

Kairi followed Riku, calming herself down and trying not to embarrass Sora when it was obviously Riku's fault.

They found the door to the supply room closed. Riku just hoped Sora wasn't locked in there again. He unlocked the door to find an empty room and, upon closer inspection, a room also devoid of any copies of 'A Tale of Two Cities'. Kairi shrugged it off and suggested Sora might have gone back to class.

Riku led Kairi back to the class, dragging her by the arm. She was still recovering from her laughing fit. She wiped the tears from her eyes and followed the grumpy Riku back into the classroom. Their teacher was handing out copies of the lengthy novel.

Kairi sat down at her seat, passing Riku his keys back to him without looking directly at him. She didn't want to look at him, because she was fairly certain she would start laughing again, embarrassing both herself and Sora (Kairi was sure Riku would go into 'I'm ignoring you' mode). She felt bad for the brunette, walking in on such a tender moment for him. Kairi glanced around Riku's form to check on Sora's outward condition. She frowned; he didn't look too happy.

Sora had noticed Kairi's wet eyes. He just wanted to die on the spot. He had been kissing (well getting kissed by) her boyfriend and they were caught. Kairi's reaction still could be heard echoing through his mind. Sora glanced over at Riku, who just looked bitter. Sora pouted. Was Riku completely heartless? Riku looked like he was just annoyed with being caught.

He sighed and rested his head on his new book, feeling lower than low.

.:---:.

"I can't believe he did that!" Empty hall. Empty hall.

"Yeah, I didn't think he'd get so mad," Classroom. Empty hall. Empty hall. Loitering students. Empty hall.

"Geez. It was only a laxative in his coffee," A small room. Empty hall. Teachers smoking on the corner.

"Well, Selphie, he did say we went too far this time," the dirty blond boy glanced away from the black and white video screen and to the girl beside him. Selphie shrugged.

"I guess he wouldn't have been so mad if he hadn't been meeting with the board superintendent," She reasoned, flipping the security camera screens to even more empty halls.

"Maybe," the boy looked at the screens with dull eyes, "Wow, nothing happens in this school,"

"It's because we're in here and not out there causing havoc, Tidus," Selphie reasoned. The principal was making them watch the security cameras all day while they were suspended and they had to report anything suspicious to the administration.

"This school is so boring," Tidus yawned, flipping through the security cameras, not paying attention.

"Whoa! Stop! Tidus!" Selphie squealed swatting Tidus's hand away from the control panel.

He looked up at the screen. Tidus could figure out who it was, even in black and white.

"Isn't that Riku?" He asked, glancing at Selphie and then back to the screen again. He wondered why the almighty class rep wasn't in class.

"Uh huh, but who's that he's making out with?" Selphie studied the screen more. She turned and started copying and preparing the video file of the closet to keep for herself.

"That's a guy..." Tidus raised an eyebrow, watching the scene. He shook his head at Selphie, who was getting ready to save it and e-mail it to herself. He had known Riku got around, but a male student during class?

"I hope this won't be too big for an e-mail file, otherwise I'll have to upload it," Selphie muttered, getting another strange look from Tidus.

"You should give up on the porn, Selphie. Someone walked in on them," Tidus's warning brought Selphie's attention back to the live screen.

"It's Kairi. Ouch; being found out by your best friend. Oh, I wonder why she ran away," Selphie was about to switch it when Tidus gasped.

"It was Sora!" he exclaimed. Selphie glued herself back to the screen.

"Riku was making out in the closet with the boy who fainted?" Selphie snorted thinking that, though Riku chose a cute one, he was picking a loser.

"Weird. Riku must de desperate," Tidus, gaping at Selphie, who was sending the file to her e-mail, "Why are you doing that? They left,"

"I believe we just found our big story," Selphie grinned and pressed 'send'.

Tidus shared the smile, "I see what you're getting at. I'll go and get the scoop," Tidus turned and stared at the steel door leading to a hall in the main office. He had forgotten they were suspended.

"Maybe after school?" Selphie suggested, clearing some memory from her digital camera. She was going to need space for photos.

Tidus nodded and went back to slipping through security cameras. Empty hall. Empty hall. Big news.

.:---:.

"What's wrong Sora?" Riku looked up from his desk, trying to make his eyes as big and irresistible as Sora's usually were. He just hoped it would work on Sora just as well as it worked on him. Sora hadn't said a word to him since Riku'd kissed him in first period.

Sora frowned, glancing down at Riku and wondering how he could not know what was wrong. He was able to ignore the look that Riku was giving him. Sora was sure it was the same principle that made snakes immune to their own poison. He sighed; he didn't really want to discuss this with Riku in Biology class.

"Don't you feel bad?" Sora finally asked, a little exasperated by Riku's attitude.

"That I didn't finish? Yeah," Riku smirked as best someone could with their face lying on a desk. Since Kairi had been laughing so much it had been hard for him to make it clear to her that he was not happy that she walked in when she did. Riku wasn't one to leave things at a kiss, even if it was someone like Sora.

Sora glared at him for a moment, groaning a bit. He wondered how someone could act like this. He was pretty sure that Riku was the most self-absorbed person he knew and that was including the people in his old school. Sora shook his head slightly, mostly to himself and went back to writing out a lab the class was going to do the next day. Conversation with Riku didn't seem to be going all that well.

Since Sora stopped paying attention to Riku, he was more than a bit surprised when he felt a pair of lips on his neck. He blushed furiously and completely froze up, not even finding himself able to push the other boy away. Therefore, since Sora hadn't reacted in time, Riku went on.

Riku trailed his teasing kisses up to Sora's jaw-line, where he stopped suddenly. He waved his hand in front of Sora's face, quite sure that the brunette had stopped breathing. Rolling his eyes at melodramatic reaction, Riku grabbed Sora's side.Sora squealed, reacting to the pinch. He glared at Riku, noting that, at least, no one had noticed neither Riku's public display of… something… nor Sora's noises.

The silver haired boy grinned, leaning over to capture Sora's lips in another kiss. This one surprised Sora enough to let Riku to explore Sora's mouth with his tongue until the brunette was able to react to the invasion.

Sora was torn. In the back of his mind, he thought kissing Riku was very, very nice and he couldn't help but return the kiss. However, the voice of reason spoke up causing Sora to pull away before Riku was finished. He had to remind himself that Riku was a horrible two-timing person. He tried his best to ignore Riku and went back to his work.

Riku frowned and licked his lips. Was he just rejected? That was a first. He narrowed his eyes, hoping that it was just because Sora was shy and not something else. Not that Riku thought the teacher would care. This was the most he had moved during Biology all year. She might even be pleased that he had found something of interest in the class, albeit another student.

He reached over and shut Sora's binder, tired of the brunette focusing on the school work instead of on Riku himself. He grinned at the indignant look he received from Sora. Riku raised an eyebrow, meeting the boy's eyes and causing Sora to blush lightly.

"I think I could get away with just about anything in this class," he whispered, his low voice causing an unconscious shiver to run up Sora's spine. The brunette turned back to his desk.

"All by yourself?" Sora responded quietly, glancing at Riku with a strange expression, at a crossroads of attraction, humiliation, anger and disbelief. He lowered his head, his eyelashes hiding those confused eyes from Riku.

Something which the silver haired boy could not stand.

Riku reached over, grabbing Sora's far arm, turning the boy toward him quickly. Sora glanced up; a little shocked. Would Riku just leave him alone at any point today? It didn't seem so when the white haired boy leaned over, pressing himself against Sora's chest. Sora's eyes widen when Riku's tongue ran up his neck. Between this and the heat radiating from the other boy, Sora was beginning to go off the edge. This was just wrong. How could any human be this shameless?

Although his hands, his strength, didn't agree with this viewpoint and ignored Sora's screaming mind to push Riku off him. And his mind really meant off him. Riku seemed to be more on Sora than on his own chair. He shifted his own weight, trying to stop Riku's wandering hand that was finding its way under Sora's shirt and the pair of lips expertly ravishing his neck. He didn't know how long he could handle this, especially in Biology class.

Luckily, the sound of the crash was more than enough to hide the moan that escaped Sora's lips. He had shifted a little too far, and, when Riku had put even more weight, the balance of the chair was so off that Sora slipped off the chair, sending Sora's chair back and Riku's chair away from them when Riku followed Sora's fall. The brunette was lying on his back, wanting to rub the pain away from his behind and his head while Riku's fall had been cushioned by the generous donation of Sora's body beneath him.

Now everyone in the class was paying attention for the first time. Except, their attention was on Sora and Riku.

"I'm glad to see you're awake, Riku, maybe you can use all your stored energy to answer this problem on the board for me," the bespectacled Biology teacher gave a knowing, lop-sided smile. This time it was Riku's turn to moan.

.:---:.

Kairi didn't always like her spare. It was rather boring without Riku to joke around with. However on most days, it still felt like he was there with her in spirit. Or, to be more precise, there with her in terms of paper work addressed to the class representative.

Kairi didn't really mind all the forms and the reading of the memos. She had told Riku she'd be there for him when the class voted him to lead them and he was just as eager to take her up on that.

He was a good leader; no one could deny that. Riku was the definition of charming and extroverted. He was a wonderful speaker and gained more respect with the students than the teacher ever did. These were the reasons (beyond that he was her best friend) why Kairi gave up most of her spare everyday, and sometimes outside of school as well, to help Riku with managing everything.

"Oh he'll enjoy this," Kairi said quietly to herself, reading over an announcement. It was ordering all club leaders and class representatives to start planning for the school's mid-autumn festival. Each class and group was expected to come up with something for it. Riku having to do even more work for the class? Kairi made sure to read the announcement closely; she had the feeling she would be the one to do most of the work.

However on the day of the festival, Riku would be the passionate leader once again, doing anything and everything to get them to win the grand prize. Whatever that was. It hadn't been mentioned exactly what could be won in the memo. She sighed and started writing up what Riku would have to do the next day.

The hardest part in all of this was to extract some creative and interesting ideas from their classmates. For an English class they could be really dull. Kairi sighed; if Riku would want to win (and he would) it was going to be very difficult to beat some of the clubs. Especially the Arts Council, the reigning body of not only the visual arts, but of music, yearbook and the drama club. Kairi was afraid that even Riku wouldn't be able to beat Aria, the director of the council, and her minions.

"I wonder what we should do," Kairi asked herself, walking down the hall, trying to come up with ideas. If you had ideas already, it was easier to get the class into it and make them start suggesting their own.

"About what?" A strange male voice asked, right before Kairi walked into a tall body dressed in a suit. She looked up and turned red.

It was the guy from the café. The one with the tight butt.

.:---:.

Kari: Chapter Four complete, I could go on but that's just so funny.

Riku: I can't believe I was made to do Biology work!

Kari: I'm sure your teacher was just so impressed with your own personal project.

Riku: She should have noticed I was busy with my personal project. ::stares at Sora::

Sora: ::eating his ice cream before it melts:: What?! Do I have ice cream on my face?

Riku: Wahh! ::jumps at Sora::

Kari: ::sweatdrop:: well… then… bai!

**Special note: If you happen to see copies of 'A Handmaid's Tale' follow Riku's example and throw them out. Also, try not to read the middle of any lengthy Dickens novel. Believe me, you're not missing anything. And by that I mean… nothing happens**.


	5. The Calm

**Dive into the Horizon**

_Disclaimer: Yeah, cuz a high school girl owns Square-Enix and/or Disney. Just wait until I get the technology to create my very own Riku and Sora! ::Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy Laugh:: _

**Rating: **pg-13… not like Riku's pushing it… very much pushing it.

**Author's Note:** This was originally both chapter 5 and chapter 6! But… Chapter Five wasn't working out by itself, and chapter six is just so delicious! So part of chapter five got pushed back to chapter seven (which is now chapter six) and parts of chapter six (the old chapter six) was moved up to chapter five… wow. I'm confused.

Um. You all know this is RikuxSora right? Well… It REALLY becomes RikuxSora in this chapter. ::sweatdrop:: Riku couldn't help himself okay? I am sorry! Umm… In manga this chapter is very much older teen. (Riku: It is not. I have to make him somehow)…. BAD!

Is it considered evil that I just actually had something for breakfast for the first time in a long time just to be able to drink the rest of a bottle of juice because my mom told me she liked it last night?

.:---:.

**Response to Reviews:**

**Twilight-Archer:** If you liked chapter Four, you'll _LOVE_ this one. Heh. Ja, the gossip is coming in a big way.

**Ink2:** I'm glad you liked it, the guy from the café gets his name in this chapter which is lovely!

**Slashy:** Thanks for Betaing! I hope this chapter works out better than the last… ::sweatdrop::

**Chapter 5: The Calm**

Kairi had what she considered her cutest outfit on.

It consisted of a short pleated skirt, over-the-knee socks and a matching French-cut blouse. Compared to the rest of the school and the uncaring way they dressed themselves, Kairi was looking smashing. The only person who was dressed more carefully then herself was Riku, who noticed her clothes in a moment.

"What are you dressed up for? Where's the casual?" Riku asked, approaching her locker, a smile playing on his lips. His best friend was up to something and it was obvious to him. His shirt had a diagonal zipper to his shoulder – he was wearing was one of the more normal things in his wardrobe.

"I'm not dressed up," Kairi retorted, grabbing her books for English class. By the amount of sticky notes in her copy of 'A Tale of Two Cities', it could be reasoned that she'd skipped ahead and started reading it.

Riku raised an eyebrow, "You're a horrible liar, Kairi," he said, reaching over her and grabbing the daily announcements. She frowned and knew she wouldn't be able to hide it from Riku.

"Remember that guy at the café?" She ventured, hoping he would remember just the person, not the conversation.

"The one you were drooling over? Yeah, what about him?" he asked, unimpressed. Not that Riku was paying attention; Sora had just walked by and Riku could help but enjoy the view.

Sora, who was minding his own business and getting to his locker without having to confront Riku, shivered as he opened his locker. He looked around, but didn't see anyone he knew. So why did he feel like someone was watching him?

"Who's drooling now?" Kairi accused Riku, snapping his attention back to her, "That guy… He was here! I think he goes our school," she said, making her own sweep of the hall.

"Oh, so you're trying to impress him with your… girlish charms?" Riku looked Kairi up and down. She looked like she was going for the cute girl-next-door look and not the sultry seductress, which seemed more effective. Kairi stuck her tongue out at him and shut her locker.

"I'm not like you, Riku. I have decency," she ended the argument before it began and headed off to the closest vending machine to get a bottle of water. She grabbed the drink and followed Riku to class, trying to mention the fall festival to him. However, Riku ignored her.

"I'll announce it later, after we come up with a plan when the class comes up with crap ideas," he drawled, having to, once again, open the classroom up for the students. Riku cleared his throat and stole a drink of Kairi's water. They needed a great idea to win and he didn't want to leave it up to the voting public.

"Riku, we need all the time we can get to pull this off," Kairi complained, putting the notice back into her binder. She knew he wouldn't change his mind at this point. She looked over at Sora's desk as the owner of it approached it quietly.

"Morning Sora!" Kairi said cheerfully, arranging her short skirt before sitting down.

Riku turned and flashed Sora an arrogant smile, his eyes hungry, "Well, good morning, you," he said, running his tongue over his bottom lip.

Sora turned bright red and sat down very quickly. He purposely turned away from Riku, ignoring the boy's actions, muttering a greeting that was too quiet to make out clearly.

Riku smiled slyly, then leaned down and kissed Sora's ear lobe. He whispered something that caused Sora to fall off his chair. Looking satisfied, Riku went to the front of the class to read the announcements. When he finished, the teacher ushered in a young man with longish, messy dark brown hair. He looked around at the class with his stern blue eyes.

"Everyone, this is our new student-teacher, Mr. Bihoitz," the teacher said with some difficulty. It was a very foreign name; he wondered how well his students would be able to pronounce it, let alone the other teachers. Mr. Bithoitz rolled his eyes slightly and moved a bit of dark hair out of his face.

"You can all call me Leon. Forget that name," He said, looking around at the class. They looked a little surprised, but he was sure that they were thankful they weren't going to have to attempt saying his last name at any point. With a wave of 'Good morning Leon,' around the class, they finally started to continue English class again.

Riku glanced over to Kairi, noticing that she'd tensed up. He wondered exactly why, so he poked her before asking 'what's wrong?' with his eyes.

"That's… That's… he's a teacher?" Kairi muttered, covering her face in embarrassment. She groaned and looked over to Riku, her face red.

"Huh? What do you mean, "Riku looked around and decided she must have been talking about Leon, "You mean the guy at the café is Leon? You- You like the student teacher?" Riku said very quietly. He forced himself not to start laughing; Kairi could hit hard.

"I didn't know, okay? What should I do? I didn't bring a change of clothes!" she suddenly became very self conscious, trying to pull her skirt down and make it longer. Kairi only stopped when Riku grabbed her hand gently.

"Calm down. It's not like you have a shirt on that says 'I want you, Teach,'" he reasoned, putting Kairi's hands back on her desk. Riku watched Leon carefully, not happy with what the man was doing to his best friend. He grinned and leaned over to Kairi's ear, "I think you should go for it,"

"What? But he's… he's…" Kairi stammered, glancing down at Leon, who was sitting by the teacher's desk, watching him lead a lesson.

"He's only a student teacher. He has to be like what? Twenty-four or so?" Riku reasoned, nudging Kairi, flashing her that dangerous smile. He was offering an idea that seemed wrong to Kairi on many levels. What could she do though? It was Riku. Riku made things that shouldn't make sense make sense.

"Ergh," she stated simply, knowing Riku won. It wasn't as if she acted like Riku at all, but, in this case, she found herself liking his idea. Kairi would never been seen jumping at someone, unlike a certain white-haired boy who was currently engrossed in the appearance of another student. Kairi sighed; she'd laid her eyes on a very good looking boy and then found out he was a teacher at the school.

Just her luck.

Kairi sighed and spent the rest of the period as distracted as Riku was. However, she was distracted by the student teacher and was, at least, looking at the front of the class, while Riku was openly staring at the row beside him.

After second period, Kairi and Riku surprised Sora at his locker. They attacked from opposite angles, cornering the brunette boy against his locker with nowhere to run.

"Uh… Hi," Sora said nervously, glancing from the evil grin on Riku's face to Kairi's sly smile.

"You will be eating lunch with both of us and not running off to the library today," Kairi stated firmly, taking Sora's books from him and putting them away for him. She winked and grabbed his lunch from home.

"That's right! You're the grand prize winner of lunch with the class rep!" Riku joked, shutting Sora's locker before the shorter boy could protest or make up an excuse. Not that he had to. The principal's voice on the PA system interrupted all conversation in the halls.

"Attention Students. Due to inclement weather, afternoon classes and after school activities are cancelled. Further more, all students are to load their buses in the next ten minutes. Those walking should leave as well. I don't want anyone here hanging around by half past, got that?" The voice rang out. The students in the halls glanced around, wondering how to react. A few people cheered quietly, happy about missing a test or two.

Others, like Tidus and Selphie, groaned. So much for gathering information about Sora and Riku, which they were planning to do at lunch and after school. Now they would have to leave the building. Not to go home, oh no. Today was the meeting for the Arts Council.

"What do you think Aria will do?" Tidus asked Selphie, packing his bag up and grabbing his coat. He wondered who Selphie killed to get the locker next to him. She was pulling on her raincoat and glanced up at Tidus, not quite believing he was asking such a question.

"Meeting at her house, like always; I can't believe you bother to ask anymore," Selphie stated, gathering her things up. She looked around and spotted a dark red-headed girl walking off to the main entrance, "There she is. Let's go Tidus!"

"Yeah, yeah," Tidus groaned, grabbing his stuff and following Selphie, who was running to catch up to the older girl. She was right; he should give up on trying having a normal, independent life.

Sora tried his best hide the relieved smile he wanted to show. No lunch with Riku, no biology, no trying to fend off any thoughts about the kiss or a crying Kairi. He could have cheered, but he felt that would be a bad thing to do in front of the two disappointed teens. He reopened his locker and grabbed his things.

"I better go get my stuff. See ya tomorrow Sora! We'll have a lunch date!" Kairi said happily, skipping to her locker and knowing she could use the free afternoon to design their submission to the fall festival.

"She's right. I want a happy lunch with you again with none of the running around," Riku said a little annoyed. He noticed Sora was trembling and sighed mentally, not knowing what to do with the brunette. Riku did up the buttons of Sora's raincoat for him and shut Sora's locker. With a sigh, he quickly kissed Sora on the forehead and left the stunned boy to stare at his locker confused.

However, Sora decided not to worry about Riku too much. He was going to be alone most of the night and wanted to be able to play his video games and ignore his homework without consistently thinking about the silver-haired sex god. He shook his head as he walked outside; he just didn't call Riku a sex god in his mind. Nope. Sora decided that denial was a lovely place to dwell.

He looked up at the darkening sky; it didn't look like it would be nice night. He was glad he had no plans to leave his living room.

.:---:.

Brring. Brring.

Sora's mother answered the phone right before the third ring; she had been getting ready to go to work. She sighed, wondering why Sora hadn't answered it.

"Hello?" She said into the phone, wondering who it was. She hoped it would be quick; she needed to head off to work before the storm rose.

"Kohana? Is that you?" It was Riku's mother. Sora's mother, Kohana, smiled into the phone.

"Yep, What's up? I'm just heading off to work,"

"In this weather? You're crazy. Anyway, I haven't asked Riku yet, but, since he doesn't have a choice, I'm saying a total yes to your question," Harumi giggled through the phone. The reason she hadn't asked Riku? He hadn't been home since that morning.

"Oh that's great. Thanks Harumi, you're the best," Kohana said, throwing a notebook into her shoulder bag.

"I know I am," Harumi laughed, "I'll let you go now," She hung up the phone.

.:---:.

Sora waved 'good-bye' to his mother. She was working late and all through the night with her staff pushing a deadline as much as they could. She kissed her son on the forehead and started to leave the house. Kohana warned Sora of the storm that was coming and to make sure all the windows were shut. Sora nodded dully, pushing his mother out the door before shutting it while Kohana went on about wanting to ensure Sora ate properly.

He sighed and leaned on the now closed door, glad to finally get her out of the house. Sora had a long night of snacking and playing video games planned. He was so prepared that he was already dressed for bed in a t-shirt and his boxers. He planned on falling asleep in the glow of his television. Even if it was a school night.

Stretching, Sora walked into the kitchen, wondering what gourmet confection he would eat first. He thought a moment about a sundae but then lazily decided on a big bottle of pop and a box of cookies.

He had already brought down pillows and his blankets from his bed, which were arranged on the floor in front of the couch (eventually he always slipped off the couch and onto the floor while playing games). Also from his room were three alarm clocks all set to go off one after another in the morning. Just in case.

Evidently, Sora had done this before. The only difference this time was that he didn't have Ayame and Saki to invite over for a while. Not that this deterred him from eating the frosted cookies happily.

After getting bored and/or frustrated with three video games, Sora realized that all the distracting background noise was, in fact, rain. He stood up and stretched out like a cat, deciding that going around and shutting the windows would be a good way of moving around and a perfect time to get more snacks.

He looked out his window as he shut it (it was the only one open; Kohana knew her son well). It was really raining out. The heavy rain, the lightning over the ocean, and the strong wind strengthened Sora's will that it was a perfect night to play games and watch movies.

It there was anyone out in the weather; they were crazy.

Sora wrapped himself in his comforter and loaded in 'Road Rage'. He grinned; this game didn't take a lot of concentration. He was just about to run over Professor Frink for the third time when he realized the pounding at his front door wasn't just the rain.

Fearing it was a tree branch or a pack of bloodthirsty squirrels that wanted shelter, Sora went back to his game.

BANG!  
BANG!

Take Professor Frink (who really should be dead by now) to the gas station.

BANG!

BANG!

Sora ignored the person (he decided it was a person since there wasn't any squirrel-like scratching) at the door. He only had twenty seconds and two blocks left.

"DAMNIT! OPEN THE DOOR!"

BANG!

BANG!

Sora was distracted long enough for Frink to jump out of the car and for him to lose the round. He sighed. Might as well let the mod inside, Sora thought. If it was his mother forgetting her keys, Sora would kill her, but it didn't sound like her at all.

Yawning in a cat-like manner, Sora walked to the door casually and slowly, ignoring the pounding coming from the other side. As if that would make him answer it more quickly. Sora put his hand on the handle when the crash of thunder startled him. Wonderful, Sora thought, the thunder was making the night even more perfect than it had been.

He opened the door slowly, battling the strong wind. Sora identified who exactly was standing in front of his door and slammed the door as if there wasn't any wind at all.

"Sora! Open the freakin' door!" Riku's voice came through the door over the noise of the storm. He must have been shouting at the top of his voice.

Sora struggled with the dilemma.

Should he continue to play 'Road Rage' or should he load in another game?

Finally he sighed, a little exasperated at the situation, and opened the door again. He didn't need a human rights violation weighing heavily on his conscience. He let Riku in, slamming the door closed after him, battling the wind.

Riku glared at Sora through dripping wet bangs. He couldn't believe how long he had to wait at that door in the storm. He looked Sora over; it was only nine-thirty and he looked like he was ready for bed. He was about to say something when Sora stopped him.

'You're going to get the carpet wet," Sora said. Riku was sure there was a hint of anger in the tone. The brunette disappeared for a moment and returned with two towels.

Riku tried a smile, "Thanks," he said, taking them. He shook his head like a dog, getting Sora wet. Riku ignored the angry look and started to dry his hair and the skin that was showing on his legs, arms and stomach.

"Can I maybe borrow some clothes?" Riku asked gesturing to his soaking wet outfit.

"Why are you here?" Sora asked, ignoring Riku's request. He crossed his arms in defiance.

"I was out and it started to rain and the island started to drown. Your house was closest. Now about a change of clothes," Riku explained, looking around Sora as a hint.

"Why didn't you go home?" Sora asked, his eyes burning. He wasn't about to let Riku in his house while he was alone.

Riku rolled his eyes. If this was how Sora was going to play then Sora was going to lose. He sighed and took off his soaking shirt.

"Sora, I'm coming in," Riku took off his shoes and socks, but was stopped by Sora's glare.

"Why can't you go home?" he reiterated, sounding like a seven year old not getting his way. Sora tried his best to ignore and not stare at Riku's bare chest.

"Sora. Clothes. I will not hesitate to go naked," Riku warned. To prove himself, he removed his shorts. Though the idea of walking around in his boxers wasn't a pleasant one, he needed to scare Sora into being hospitable.

Sora's eyes widened and with some fumbling of words, he ran upstairs to find Riku some clothes. He came back and threw a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt at Riku, not unlike what Riku had been wearing before.

Riku grinned and threw the clothes on; he had won. He looked around and found himself comparing Sora's living room to a hamster's nest in which all the favourite things were kept together.

Sora pouted and stormed by Riku into the kitchen to make a sundae. The white haired boy followed, pulling the shirt on and then looked around at the mess.

"Where's your mom?" Riku asked, looking at Sora and curious to exactly why the brunette was digging in the freezer.

"She's working all night and most of the morning," Sora answered, pulling out a box of ice cream. He grabbed a bowl and started ladling out ice creams into it.

Riku raised an eyebrow, understanding the blankets in the living room and the mess in the kitchen more.

Sora finished his sundae with chocolate syrups and sprinkles. Riku smirked and followed Sora back to the living room, remembering where in the chaos the syrup was.

"Are you going to leave soon?" Sora asked, settling himself down in front of the television. He started to eat his ice cream sundae, ignoring the fact that Riku was ruining his night of solitude.

"When it's safe to walk outside," Riku said, looking out the window and watching the rain pound on the glass. He sat down beside Sora, deciding not to ask why the brunette was sitting on the floor instead of the couch.

"Fine," Sora sighed, giving up on the idea of pushing Riku out of the house. He ate his sundae quickly so he could start playing the video game again. He was a little too careless and got syrup all over his face.

"Sora, you have a bit of sundae on your face," Riku said slyly, causing Sora to blush and look around for a paper towel. He couldn't find one.

"Let me get that for you," Riku offered leaning in towards Sora. The boy blinked, not understanding how Riku could help him without a paper towel. This question was answered creatively. Riku held the brunette's chin and proceeded to kiss and lick Sora's face clean. He ended with a gentle kiss on Sora's open mouth. Riku even nibbled gently on Sora's bottom lip.

Sora's heart had jumped to an extremely high rate and he stared at Riku with wide eyes.

"What was that?" he managed to say between the "uhs", "ums" and the ever repeating "I…" Sora wanted to finish the sundae but was quite afraid of what it was doing to Riku.

"It was delicious," Riku smirked and grabbed the bowl of ice cream. He ate it happily while a flustered Sora was stuck in Indecision Land.

"Uh… Right," Sora picked up the controller and started another round of 'Road Rage'. He had been playing for a few minutes when he felt a pair of eyes on him.

"Can I help you?" Sora asked, pausing the game. He looked at Riku, meeting his eyes, and started to feel dizzy.

"Of course," Riku replied, capturing Sora in another whirlwind kiss. Sora returned the kiss without hesitation, gladly opening his mouth for the boy when he felt Riku's tongue running along his lips. Riku finally broke away, cursing the need to breathe. He watched Sora, who let out a sigh and opened his eyes slowly.

"I'm trying to play a game here," Sora complained after recovering. He desperately tried to hide the fact that he hadn't wanted that simple kiss to end. He picked up the controller and went back to driving over Simpsons characters but was finding it harder to play when his hands were shaking as much as they were.

"Oh yes, as amusing as it is to watch you try to concentrate, I think I have a better game to play," Riku said smugly, grabbing the controller from Sora and pausing the game once again.

"Huh?" Sora didn't understand what Riku meant but had the feeling he was about to find out. At this rate he'd never finish that round, and the rounds were only about two minutes long. He turned to look at Riku and was getting a little nervous about the predatory glint in the white haired boy's eyes.

Riku crept closer to Sora, holding the brunette by the back of the head to engage in another hasty kiss. He was finding it hard to restrain his desire for Sora and it could be felt in the rougher kiss. Sora felt lost in the difference and didn't try to keep up, though he did wonder if his lips could bruise because of a kiss. Soon, he didn't have to worry about that because a breathless Riku started an assault on his neck. He was convinced to continue with his persistent hard kisses on Sora's neck by the noises the brunette was emitting.

Sora shifted into the kisses, his body betraying any sane thought in his mind. He whined a bit when Riku suddenly stopped, opening his eyes to find out why. Riku gave a small smile, confident with the result he was getting. He shifted, putting a knee between Sora's legs to get a better angle. He leaned back in towards Sora, balancing himself with an arm on the sofa. Riku brought his lips close to Sora's, almost touching. He remained in control, glad to watch Sora struggle under him. Sora wanted Riku to either pull away or just kiss him, not torture him like this. Sora moaned in expectation and leaned up quickly, pressing his lips to Riku's, relieved not to be in the previous position anymore.

Riku moved downward, putting half formed kisses on Sora's neck in rhythm with his heart beat; which quickened with each kiss. Riku felt Sora swallow a soft moan and glanced up, watching Sora's reaction. His cheeks were flushed happily, his eyes half open, though he still seemed a little confused. That look only deepened when Riku ran a finger lightly under Sora's shirt hem.

"What do you think about me Sora?" Riku asked softly, pulling Sora's shirt up a bit, tracing designs with his finger on Sora's stomach. The brunette stiffened, and took a moment before he started to breathe again.

"I… I…" Sora stammered, finding his mind spinning from the gentle touch on his stomach. No one had touched him like that before. He didn't think he had felt like this before. He was lost. Sora panted a bit, trying to catch his breath. He raised his head to try and get a clearer view of Riku, who met his eyes, and then, a moment later, his lips.

Riku was sure he already knew how Sora felt about him. Otherwise they wouldn't be in this position and he would be back outside in the rain. However, he wanted Sora to admit it out loud to himself. Riku smiled slightly, running his hand up to Sora's chest. He kissed from Sora's mouth over to his neck and his ear, gently tugging at Sora's ear lobe with his lips. He moved his leg again to be properly straddling Sora. Riku smiled and almost chuckled as Sora slipped down a bit, his head resting on a pillow.

He teased Sora with a half kiss on his lips and then moved downward, lifting Sora's shirt up, flicking his tongue over the bare chest. Riku looked up at Sora, who was looking a tad delirious.

"How do you feel about me?" He repeated before covering Sora's bare skin with fleeting kisses. Riku waited patiently for Sora to answer, while amusing himself with his chest.

"Urgh..." Sora managed, not finding it possible to form a coherent sentence in any known language, especially with the butterflies in his stomach multiplying with every touch. He let out a noise that Riku was sure belonged to a kitten.

He ran a finger along Sora's spine, watching the body beneath him shiver. Riku covered Sora's stomach with even more kisses and then moved quickly up to his neck.

"Well?" Riku whispered, slowly sliding his hips into Sora's, causing the brunette's back to arch into the movement. He stopped Sora's half formed moan with a deep kiss. Riku backed off a bit, watching Sora's cheeks glow.

"I... I... " Sora began, clutching the blanket in tight fists when Riku repeated the action. He panted softly and found that the whole situation was not very fair. Sora's mind left him when Riku moved down on him to assault his neck again. Too much.

"I like you," he breathed, feeling Riku move again. Sora pressed himself up against the white haired boy again. He thought he could feel Riku smile into his neck.

"I thought so," Riku said slyly, untangling himself from Sora with a satisfied smirk. He grabbed the controller, finishing Sora's round of Road Rage and starting his own.

Sora caught his breath and struggled to sit up properly. He watched Riku, not sure if he should be annoyed or relieved, so he settled with confused. Sora pulled his shirt down and watched Riku play the game, what he said still echoing in his mind. He had just told Riku that he liked him. Sora fell back, ignoring the glance from Riku. He stared at the ceiling; now he wasn't sure if 'like' was the correct word. He closed his eyes; it was all too much to think about.

Riku played for about an hour before deciding that Sora wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. He turned off the television, quietly laughing to himself. Riku wrapped the blankets around Sora and kissed him on the forehead before turning all the light off. He headed out into the rainy street, glad that the storm had calmed down.

.:---:.

Sora woke up and rubbed the kink in his neck. He looked around; the sun was shining like the storm never happened. Sora couldn't remember how he ended up snuggled in his blankets or who exactly turned off the television. He decided it must have been Riku, since he had disappeared. He wondered how much time he had until school. Sora figured he must have woken up before the alarms because they weren't going off. He grabbed one and almost fell over.

"I slept through three alarms?" even Sora couldn't believe it was already eleven. He glanced at the three clocks and felt a little better but a little more stupid. One alarm was set to go off in the evening and another wasn't even on. So he slept through one alarm. Still bad, but it was better than three.

.:---:.

**Note: **heh. I know I gave Leon a really weird looking name but I didn't want to call him Squall (because this is an KH fic) and Leon Lionheart? Soo lame, especially since they probably got Leon from lionheart… So I made up a new one…. In Basque. … Lehoi means Lion and Bihotz means Heart. I squished them together.

**Note #2:** The head of the Arts Council, Aria, is my KH OC. She has her own story that takes place during KH, but she fit well into the dominating scary president role. XD


	6. A Brief Reprise

**Dive into the Horizon**

_**Disclaimer: Owning Kingdom Hearts characters from either Disney or Square-Enix would be nice but there's such a large line and I hate waiting… I also don't want to get in the huge brawl at the start of the line. So… I don't own them. **_

**Rating:** PG-13

**Author's Note:** Let's see… Between crazy school, university applications, more crazy school and a general writer's block when thinking about Sora and Riku, this chapter took a long time to write. I also don't really like it. Maybe I'll revise it later…

**Response to Reviews:**

**Slashy – **The hat thing would only work if Sora wore a hat. I believe Sora's lost his mind. But that's just me.

**KD Hearts – **I've been quite busy okay? Sorry : ( What's gross? Kairi and Leon? Heh. That is kinda weird, but I've got two normal pairings and two crazy couplings in this story. (Just wait until the sequel!)

**Ink2 – **Tidus and Selphie were running after a character named Aria. She's one of my KH original characters. (Her story is called Divine Symphony, it'll be up soon). She'll have a bit bigger part in the sequel to Dive but right now she's just in the background. She runs the Arts Council at the school (Riku doesn't like the Arts Council because they always win things he wants)

**Chibi Atariel Tsukai – **Is this continuing enough for you: ) Sorry about the wait.

**Anukis-san – **I'm glad someone is still reading this! Devious plot? If only. I keep forgetting there IS a plot. I suppose it could be devious, in a Selphie-distorted-psycho way.

**Chapter 6: A Brief Reprise**

Sora massaged the ache in his leg. He wished could stretch it but that wasn't possible right now. He sighed quietly and leaned back against his hamper, wishing everything would go away. It was a nice day out now; the previous night's storm was all but a dream. The rain that had threatened to drown the island made the foliage sparkle in the new sunlight.

However, Sora couldn't appreciate this island paradise because, currently, he was hiding in his closet from his mother, who had just returned home. Sora had been ready for her homecoming, throwing his blankets on his bed. While doing this, he was caught off guard by his mother's arrival and had to jump in his closet before his mother opened his bedroom door.

Sora fiddled with things in his closet and then tried to get himself comfortable with the strange objects poking into him at odd angles. He sighed, knowing he couldn't go back out to his room until his mother left the house again. He was sure she was going to meet Riku's mother for coffee and Sora just wished she'd hurry up. After waiting for what seemed an eternity, Sora finally heard her car pull away.

"Finally," he muttered, tumbling out of the closet in a twisted pile. Sora pulled himself up to his feet. He looked around, glancing out his window to identify Kohana's car before she went around corner.

Sora was sure she suspected him, but, at this point, there wasn't anything he could do. Well, actually, he could get dressed and hurry to spend the next few hours at school, but Sora didn't think it was worth it. Especially since he'd be just in time for Biology with Riku and repeating yesterday and last night wasn't high on Sora's priority list. He changed into clean clothes quickly after taking a shower, hoping his mom wouldn't come home while he was preoccupied.

After tugging on his shirt,Sora wandered downstairs to eat a little bit of lunch. He hadn't had anything since Riku ruined his sundae the night before. He was a little surprised when he heard someone knocking on his door while he searched the fridge for something to eat.

Sora frowned, wondering if he should answer it. He hadn't known the dangers of opening his door until last night. If it was Riku and things repeated themselves, Sora thought with a blush rising to his cheeks. What if his mom walked in? He shook his head slightly, figuring it couldn't be anyone important. Riku should be in school right now.

He closed the fridge and went to the door at a quick jog; he was getting bad at not opening the door right away. Sora opened the door. If it was humanly possible, his jaw would have hit the ground.

"You! No. Nuh uh. You're supposed to be in school," Sora said, simply staring at Riku on his front step. It was like a reoccurring nightmare; the white haired boy just seemed to be everywhere Sora didn't want him. He was ready to slam the door and lock it when Riku grabbed the door from him.

"No worries. I promise it won't be like last night," Riku stated, smiling slightly.

"What happened last night?" Kairi asked, leaning around Riku to glance at both of them. She was holding a picnic basket. She frowned a bit; Kairi thought the storm made the world stand still. Riku shook his furiously and covered Sora's mouth before the word "molesting" came out of it.

"Nothing happened really, my dear Kairi. Now, let's get Sora into some shoes to drag him out of the house," Riku suggested, clapping his hands together to put everyone into action. This caused two things to happen: Kairi rolled her eyes, planning to figure out what happened and Sora sighed, pulling his sneakers on.

"Riku, shouldn't you be in Biology class?" Sora asked, locking his door without realizing his mother hadn't locked the door when she left.

"So should you," Riku reasoned, grabbing one of Sora's hands. The brunette blushed brightly until Kairi grabbed the other. It was only then he realized that they were preventing escape.

He was forcefully led to a park by the high school, and, after a very unsuccessful and embarrassing escape attempt which ended when Riku grabbed Sora by the waist of his shorts and dragged him back to the picnic, Sora gave up and decided to enjoy the lunch. Kairi, after recovering from a fit of laughter, produced one of her most complicated meals.

"We warned you yesterday, Sora, that you were going to have lunch with us. You can't hide in your house from us," Riku chided, grabbing a drink. He helped himself to the food before leaning back, supporting himself with an arm.

"Yeah, it's time for the avoiding to stop," Kairi giggled, giving Sora double helpings of everything. She thought he looked like he could use it. Sora took it gladly and munched a bit, wondering why they would go to all this trouble for him in the first place. He was the one who was ruining their relationship. Sora finally zoned back into reality to see the topic of conversation had changed.

"So, you think we should do a café?" Riku asked, mostly rhetorically. He glanced up from a notebook Sora identified as Kairi's.

"Yes. No one else is doing a café in the whole school. We'll be very popular," Kairi explained with a wave of her hand.

"What about the Home Ec class?"

"After the fifth fire? The principal won't chance it," Kairi giggled when Riku grinned dangerously. The only café? This could beat the Arts Council.

"Alright, we'll announce the café tomorrow," Riku said, finishing his drink. He waved a hand in front of Sora's confused face.

"What do you think?" Riku asked Sora, who looked very confused about the whole thing.

"A café for what?" he asked, swallowing the last of his sandwich.

Riku almost fell over, wondering how Sora lived day-to-day this cluelessly. Kairi gave Riku a look.

"It's for the fall festival. Every homeroom does something special. Even some of the clubs do something," Kairi explained calmly, ignoring Riku's rolling eyes. Sora nodded in understanding.

"If you hadn't been running away so much, you would have known that," Riku said sharply. He tugged on the bottom of Sora's shirt when the brunette frowned and ignored him. Sora turned to face Riku with a glare but found himself in a kiss. It was light and chaste and though Riku pulled away quickly, Kairi still found it something to giggle about.

"Oh! So that's what happened last night," she said, pretending to be scandalized. She hit Riku on the side of the head. Kairi wagged her finger, "You're not allowed to do that sort of thing with Sora,"

"Why not?" Riku asked, frowning a bit. Kairi was trying to take away his favourite toy.

"Because it leaves me out and I'll get sad and cry," she said firmly, knowing that Riku knew that crying equaled new outfit for Kairi. He rolled his eyes.

"So you want some Riku lovin' too?" he asked chuckling. Riku leaned over and kissed Kairi on the cheek. She grinned and giggled in response.

"Oh, you knave," she teased, pushing him back to his place. Kairi busied herself with the picnic, still giggling to herself.

Sora watched the two and suddenly felt very left out. He had forgotten last night, through Riku's persistence in affection, that the two were most likely a couple. He hit his head on the tree behind him. Idiot, he scolded himself. Sora stopped the mental berating of himself when he almost called himself a home wrecker. Even he knew he was getting carried away. When he tuned back into the conversation, he found himself lost again.

"I think Sora would make a lovely girl. What do you think?" Riku asked slyly, glancing at Sora and noticing the vacant look in Sora's eyes was gone.

Kairi's laughing grew when Sora yelped and tackled Riku for saying such a thing. They tussled for a few minutes, Riku all the while trying to say he was joking, but Sora was finding a few spots where the white haired boy was ticklish. It had been a joke, saying random, insane things to see when Sora would finally return to reality.

"Ha ha ha ha… Stop! Oh! Ha ha ha ha! Not there! Not there!" Riku clutched his stomach, trying to hide it from Sora, who had just found out that it was a very effective place to tickle the white haired boy into submission. He was straddling Riku and trying to grab his stomach when he looked up at a deep cough coming from behind him.

Leon. The new student teacher was staring at them in surprise and confusion. It seemed he had already started chatting with Kairi, since she was offering him some food.

Sora looked down at Riku, who was struggling to see who was there. It was then Sora realized he was sitting on Riku and promptly flew off him, sitting very, very close the tree, away from the white haired boy. He was sure that two boys all over each other was the most disturbing thing Leon had seen all day.

"Uh… Shouldn't you be in school?" Leon asked, accepting a plate of food and a drink from Kairi. He knew she had a spare from two days ago but he was sure the other two hadn't been with her. In fact, he was sure she had been complaining about Riku not having a spare.

"Shouldn't you?" Riku retorted, folding his arms. He wasn't all that impressed with the young man. Leon was a little taken back by the comment and stared at Riku again before looking away to thank Kairi.

"Do you do this often? Play truant for a picnic? Isn't that… a little lame?" Leon asked in between complimenting Kairi on the food.

"No to both questions. This was a special occasion, just for the three of us," Riku decided then and there he disliked Leon. He was too nosy for Riku, who was used to getting his way without any questioning.

"Riku! There's more than enough food for Leon," Kairi turned red at her friend's rudeness. Did he have to embarrass her in front of Leon? Especially when it was Riku who told her to go for it. Now he was being extremely unhelpful.

"It's okay. I'm sure he's just grouchy" Leon said, a faint smile showing in his eyes. He didn't react when Riku glared at him or when Kairi glared back at Riku, daring him to speak.

They all ate in silence for a while, Riku shooting Leon glares almost as much as he watched Sora candidly who was minding his own business eating his lunch.

Finished with his food at last, Sora leaned over to put his plate in the pile. However, to do this, he had to stretch over Riku, which was a dangerous idea. Sora had weighed it out in his mind and decided it had to be done. He tried to limit the risk of molestation by waiting until Riku was shooting a nasty glare at Leon to lean over.

However, Riku noticed in time and grabbed Sora's sides with a smirk, causing the boy to fall on his lap.

Sora groaned a bit, annoyed that the pile of used plates and containers had fallen over. He looked up and was met by Riku's ever-growing grin. Rolling his eyes, Sora sat up and glared at the white haired boy. He was a little confused about why Riku had done that. It wasn't as if they were alone and it certainly wasn't very amusing. Sora didn't think doing such a thing was very appropriate, especially in front of Kairi and Leon.

"You're blushing," Riku whispered so only Sora could hear. Sora narrowed his eyes.

"Whatever happened to 'red with rage'?" he asked slyly, noting Riku's hand running along his back. Sora tried his best to keep both his heart rate and breathing normal. It wasn't working out so well and Riku could tell.

"I'm certain that's not the case here," Riku smiled and touched Sora's forehead with his own. He willed Sora to look him in the eyes.

Sora obliged Riku and met his gaze, feeling like he was falling into those deep eyes. He forgot about everything else and searched Riku's eyes. Sora swore he could see and feel every emotion running through Riku's mind: attraction, curiosity, desire, and there was also something softer that Sora couldn't place.

Lost, Sora didn't react right away when Riku kissed him softly. It was a few long moments before Sora shyly returned it, forgetting where he was or the fact that both Kairi and Leon were staring awkwardly at them.

Riku smiled into the kiss, pleased that he had just gotten Sora to kiss in public. Especially with Kairi in front of them. Sora always seemed so nervous around the girl. He wondered, however, if Sora had had a lapse in judgment and just forgotten that the two were there. Not that Riku was going to remind him, nor was he phased by the presence of his friend and a student teacher. He'd do just about anything he wanted anywhere he wanted.

That was just how he worked.

Riku wrapped one of his arms tightly around Sora's small waist while the other wandered over the brunette's back, searching for, and finding, certain spots to make the boy shiver in delight. Parting to take a breath, he kissed Sora again, a little deeper this time, and repeated this over and over again, filling each kiss with a little more desire than the one before.

Sora returned each kiss, moaning and tangling his fingers in Riku's hair. Every time he opened his eyes, all he saw were Riku's bright eyes and it comforted Sora deep down and made him ignore everything but Riku and his persistent lips on Sora's mouth.

While all this was going on, Kairi and Leon went from staring at the boys' antics to looking at each other, trying to start an awkward conversation.

"Er… Does this happen… a lot?" Leon asked, shielding his eyes casually with a hand.

"Luckily for my well being, no," Kairi gave a small smile, also trying to shield herself from the embarrassing sight — and now sounds. She sighed, wondering if they could have picked a worse time to explore their feelings for each other.

"As long as it doesn't happen in class," Leon rolled his eyes, wondering how any teacher could put up with that. Kairi smiled wirily, wondering how Leon would feel if he had to teach Riku's biology class.

"Hey, you want to go get some ice cream or something?" Leon asked, remembering that he had passed a stand in his wanderings that led him to the picnic.

"Sure. I don't think they'll notice we're gone," Kairi laughed a bit and stood up with Leon. They walked off to get away from the awkward ending to a strange picnic. They meandered through the park while Kairi pointed out places and people Leon should know. Leon, it turned out, had just moved to the small island from the 'mainland'.

"How long have you lived here?" he asked Kairi, handing her the strawberry ice cream she had hesitantly agreed to. Leon had worked on her for a while before she allowed him to spend money on her.

"Oh, always? Well, at least as long as I can remember. I moved here when I was really small," she explained, eating her ice cream. Leon nodded in understanding and sat down on a bench close by. Kairi, still unsure, sat beside him though not very close.

"It's nice to live in one place most of your life. I was always moving when I was little. It… sucked," Leon said after a long silence. He wasn't one to use the slang, but it fit. He ate his own ice cream cone, plain vanilla, glancing over at Kairi every so often. He wondered if she was embarrassed to be seen with a teacher.

They talked for a while. It would have been a quicker conversation if there hadn't been so many awkward pauses, but then Leon noticed two teens walking in the opposite direction of the picnic. The brunette girl picked a few leaves out of the blonde's hair. They were grinning. Leon pointed them out to Kairi as if to ask if she knew them.

"Huh? Tidus? Selphie? What are you doing here?" Kairi called to them, standing up. The two looked over, masking guilty faces quickly.

"We're… skipping?" Selphie suggested, staring past Kairi to the young man she had been sitting with. She swore she should know him.

"Didn't you know the park was the place to go when skipping?" Tidus said, not meaning to hint about what the two had been doing. Selphie narrowed her eyes at the boy and hit him on the arm, a universal signal for 'shut up, moron'.

"Oh really? I've never been here during school until today," Kairi said, raising an eyebrow. She wondered if the two had seen Riku and Sora. She was nervous; Selphie was known to have a huge mouth.

"I see you have a good reason not to be in school," Selphie said, glancing at Leon again and wondering who he was. She pouted slightly, "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" she asked Kairi.

Kairi stared at her for a moment. Didn't she recognize her own student teacher? "Selphie, that's Leon," she said nervously. Kairi swore that both of them were in her English class.

"And I was supposed to know that?" Selphie asked, a bit huffy. She still didn't remember him.

"C'mon Selph. We've got stuff to do," Tidus said through clenched teeth, dragging Selphie away to explain the situation without embarrassing her completely.

"Aren't they both in m English class?" Leon asked uncertainly after the two had scampered off. Kairi nodded.

"I think Tidus recognized you. Sometimes, I wonder what is actually in Selphie's head," Kairi said with a small laugh. Well, maybe, what's in there that she doesn't automatically say, she added in her mind.

WHACK!

"Ow!" Sora cried out in sudden pain. Someone just hit him over the head, which was not only painful but just ruined the kiss he had managed to get out of Riku. The white haired boy had been occupied with his neck and taking his shirt off, so Sora wasn't all that pleased. He looked up, about to be mad, but he stopped mid-breath.

It was the scary woman from the movie theatre where Sora had stalked Riku and Kairi.

Kairi… Sora groaned again and not because the woman hit him with her handbag. He just remembered what he had been doing. Home wrecker, he called himself before getting hit by the heavy purse again.

"Insolent, disgusting, perverted boy!" the woman cried, hitting him again and causing Sora to fall off Riku and land on his butt.

"The park is not a place to canoodle with your girlfriend! Disgusting!" She shouted, hitting him again. She had recognized him from the theatre and had had enough of Sora's antics by now. She walked away after wagging her finger at him and threatening him with her purse.

"I'll find out who your mother is and inform her of your indecent behaviour!" she warned before walking out of sight.

Sora rubbed his head and looked over at Riku for some pity or at least moral support. It was all his fault anyway. He was surprised that Riku was gaping.

"Did… Did she just call me a girl?" Riku asked, his mind blown. He twitched slightly, unable to believe it. Sora stared blankly at Riku. Hello, bashed on the head, he thought.

"Well at least you won't have a goose egg on your head!" Sora said indigently, finally looking around. Apparently Kairi and Leon had left them to clean up, which Sora promptly did without help since the romantic mood was long gone and Riku was still muttering about being called a girl.

Sora stood up and stretched. The picnic was put away. Even the blanket was folded and Sora had had to yank that from under Riku to get it. Sora gently hit Riku on the side of the head with the now mostly empty basket.

Riku looked up, a little dazed. He frowned at Sora, annoyed that the brunette wasn't as concerned with him being called a girl.

"I'm sure you're all man Riku. Let's go," Sora said with a playful grin. He gestured around the area, showing Riku that indeed there was no reason for them to stay there.

"Want to find out for yourself?" Riku asked slyly, standing up. Sora rolled his eyes.

"No," he said firmly, "I think Kairi and Leon left. What do you want to do?" Sora asked, trying to ignore what had just happened. Home wrecker, he echoed in his mind.

"Oh well. I'm sure they're having fun with each other," Riku mused, hoping Kairi had taken his advice and gone for it. Now that he thought about it, he did think they could be a good couple despite the age difference.

"What do you want to do?" Sora repeated, swinging the basket around in boredom. He glanced at Riku uncertainly when the white haired boy encircled his waist with an arm.

"We'll drop that off at the lunatic house. Do you want to go over to my house after?" Riku asked. The lunatic house, of course, referred to Kairi's house. It was the home of the psycho small children. He wondered if they would be at home or not. He hoped not.

"Lu-na-tic? Uh, okay," Sora agreed, surprised to find he didn't mind walking with Riku's arm around him.

Riku lead Sora through the park and down the streets to Kairi's house. He pointed out the white house with blue trim.

"That's Kairi'shouse. She has two little brothers. They're nuts," he explained. Riku took the basket and was about to walk in the door unannounced when he heard two voices, quite alike, yelling and screaming throughout the house. He cringed. The brats were home. He put a finger to Sora's lips before the brunette said anything. Riku shooed him away and placed the basket in front of the door. He rang the doorbell and then ran like mad, grabbing Sora on the way.

"That was rude!" Sora cried as he was pulled past another block. Riku turned and smirked.

"No, it was safe. The brats were home. We could have died on their porch, Sora," he said in all seriousness. Taking a few more turns, he finally showed Sora his own house. It was much larger than Sora's. Riku smiled slightly; now it was only his mother and himself occupied the house. It was lonely some nights.

"Your house is freakin' huge," Sora said, admiring it before Riku dragged him inside and up the stairs to his room. Riku's room was twice the size of Sora's.

"My parents worked hard for it," Riku commented, breathing a sigh of relief. His mother wasn't home to notice he was skipping school again.

"Oh, well you're lucky," Sora commented, sitting down on Riku's bed, which was covered in crisp clean white sheets. He watched Riku log onto his computer. Sora idly wished he had his own computer.

"I wonder where my mom is. Usually she's home," Riku commented, noticing he had a new e-mail. Sora wandered over after a moment.

"She's out having coffee with my mom," Sora explained, looking over Riku's shoulder at the computer screen and watching him log-in to check the new message.

"Well, good thing we didn't go out for coffee then, eh?" Riku chuckled, a little surprised that Sora was now resting his chin gently on his shoulder. It was rather comforting. He glanced at the e-mail's sender and the subject. He hastily opened it and read through the first few lines, then groaned.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked reading through the e-mail. Whoever had sent the email was coming to visit Riku for two weeks. He blinked, not seeing the problem. Riku rose and grabbed Sora around the waist, pressing him up against his body.

"It's my older sister. My scary, lame sister," Riku muttered into Sora's messy hair. He didn't need this; not now.

Sora sighed slightly at having Riku against him; he didn't know what to think about the situation. It was like Riku wanted to be comforted.

"Oh, it can't be that bad. Don't you want to see her? Don't you miss her?" he asked quietly. He didn't have siblings, but he was sure, if he did, he'd miss them terribly if they were away.

"She's such a dork though. Yuffie will ruin any social standing I have," Riku muttered, thinking about his hyper sister and her self proclaimed ninja skills. She claimed that those 'skills' was how she got her boyfriend of two years, Cloud. Riku swore it had to be pity on Cloud's part.

"I'm sure you're just over-reacting," Sora mumbled, still being crushed by Riku. He wished for a tiny bit more breathing room, maybe just enough to allow his lungs to expand normally. Sora smiled slightly into Riku's shirt and gently grabbed Riku's sides, trying to tickle him in the stomach.

Riku flinched and jumped away from Sora, grinning and trying to hold back his chuckles. He flopped down on his bed and stared up at the boy.

"That was rude," he commented, still preoccupied with the horrendous thoughts of his sister visiting.

"I couldn't breathe; it was totally self preservation," Sora argued, sticking out his tongue.

Riku smirked and hooked a leg around Sora's legs, causing the brunette to fall on him. He smiled and ran a hand through Sora's hair.

"You don't want to live in a world that Yuffie is visiting," Riku maintained firmly. His sister was so immature. To Riku, she was the let down of the family.

"I want to meet her. She's probably really nice," Sora argued, figuring Riku was over-reacting again. He had to face the facts; Riku had been the one to run away from Kairi's brothers.

"No, she knows too much," Riku argued, strumming his fingers along Sora's spine.

"What do you mean? Knows too much?" Sora asked, confused on whether or not Yuffie was a complete know-it-all.

"Yuffie likes to tell stories. I'm safe with Kairi; she's heard them all. But you… you're a fresh pair of ears. A pair of ears I'd rather not hear any of those embarrassing things," Riku explained after a moment, fiddling with Sora's clothes.

"Oh," Sora said softly after a moment. He was curious about what kind of things Yuffie could know about Riku, but he decided not to disturb Riku and just give up for now.

After a while, Sora was almost enjoying himself, but he made sure to keep in mind that, one, he was a home wrecker, two, Riku was probably teasing him and, three, they were just friends.

Sort of.

"Fine then. If I can't meet your sister because she has a big mouth, you can't ever meet my friends because of their mouths," Sora grinned, getting the feeling Riku didn't like his sister because he was embarrassed.

"Sounds like a deal," came the reply. Riku sighed softly. He was feeling rather tired because, unlike Sora, he hadn't slept all night and most of the morning. Wrapping his arms tightly around Sora, Riku half-turned on his side.

"Mpprf. Riku, let go," Sora whined quietly, muffled by Riku's chest. It was more out of surprise and sudden discomfort than anything. Riku was half-crushing him in his arms. He sighed, exasperated.

Riku ignored Sora's protests and closed his eyes, hoping the brunette would settle down so he could rest a little. Even a nap would do. He held Sora tightly and finally Sora gave up on not only his verbal protests but he also stopped his constant wiggling and fidgeting.

Sora realized, looking up after a moment of silence, that Riku was trying to sleep and apparently decided to use him as a pillow. He stared forward at Riku's shirt, realizing that Riku had probably stayed awake long after he had gone to sleep. He felt a little bad. Riku would have been sleep deprived and he went to school. Sora, on the other hand, got an extra long sleep and avoided school. He resolved, with a feeling of sympathy in his heart, that, at least this time, he wouldn't complain, or leave, no matter how long Riku slept and/or crushed him.

Sora had mentally told himself all the fairy tales he knew and went over his English homework in his head when he started to get bored with being Riku's pillow. However, he stood firm in his silent oath and just stared at the gentle rising and falling of Riku's chest.

He then started to think about what it would be like if they were together. He wondered if he could ever like this, being half crushed beneath the sleeping Riku. Probably not, Sora thought wryly as Riku's arms tightened around him. He hastily stopped himself from uttering an unhappy sound.

He heard the door downstairs shut quietly. Sora would have panicked if he could move enough to do so. He looked up at Riku who was still very much asleep. Sora swallowed nervously when he heard someone coming up the stairs. He couldn't move. He started fidgeting, forgetting his promise to himself. Getting desperate, Sora stretched up and tried to kiss Riku, hoping it would wake him up. However, he couldn't stretch all the way so he gave up on that idea and licked Riku on neck instead. Riku made a low noise, wrapping his arms even more tightly around Sora and crushing the boy even more.

Sora gave a muffled whine when he heard the footsteps in the upstairs hall stop in front of the door to Riku's bedroom. He then froze in horror, his breath held half in his lungs, half exhaled.

Harumi had opened the door.

Her eyes searched her son's room before she found the origin of the strange noise – on the bed. She stepped into the room and gave a sly smile.

"Riku mentioned a lunch date. I didn't know people went all the way on lunch dates," Harumi commented, walking over slowly and causing Sora to squirm in embarrassment.

She laughed softly at Sora, "Pinned? Well, when Riku puts his mind to something there's no stopping him," She was amused by the brunette's unease and embarrassment. She was thoroughly enjoying this painfully slow pace. Harumi put a finger on her lips, telling Sora not to speak.

"I think he stayed up all night, even after he left you asleep," She looked around. It wasn't usual that she was in Riku's room without being pushed out, "Oh! What's this?" She noticed the e-mail open on the computer. Harumi read it and then grinned at Sora.

"You know, he wouldn't have told me until the last minute," she said, trying to relieve herself of the imaginary guilt of reading her son's personal things. Harumi winked at Sora and then grabbed Riku's sides and pinched.

"Time to get up!" she said loudly in Riku's ear, dodging the arm swatted at her as if it was second nature.

Riku opened an eye and then finally stared at his mother evenly very well aware of just how close he was holding Sora. He even held him more tightly, like a toy he anticipated was about to be taken away. He went so far to ignore the squeal that came out of Sora's mouth.

"What do you want?" Riku asked, rather grumpy.

"Well for one, I'd like to know why you're not in school," Harumi said, more than ready to play the question game with her son.

"I only missed biology," he responded, sitting up and dragging Sora with him.

"Fine. I don't care, but you'll have to let go of Sora," she said exasperated, "His mother expects him to be home to explain himself," Harumi's words caused Sora to blink in surprise.

"She knew I was home?" he cried out, indignant. Sora wrenched free of Riku's iron grip and pouted at Harumi's giggles.

"Of course she knew!"

"She let me suffer in that closet for nothing!" Sora whined, shaking a fist. He had started to plot against her when Harumi put her hands up in a placatory gesture.

"Calm down. She said it was your punishment for being irresponsible," Harumi said, pointing to the door, "Go apologize to your mother, you bad boy."

Sora nodded and jogged out of the room, relieved to be out of Riku's grip. He was also relieved not to have any broken ribs from the experience. Sora was pulling his sneakers on when he found himself back in said grip. Riku was hugging him from behind.

"See you tomorrow," Riku mumbled, kissing Sora on the cheek.

Sora blushed, "Yeah," he said just as softly.

Kairi thanked Leon profusely for the ride back to her house from the park. He insisted on it after they wandered back to the picnic spot to find it completely devoid of Sora, Riku and the picnic. He felt bad, afraid the basket had been stolen.

She gave him a gracious smile, and, with a wave, ran up to her house, sensing, with her sister-sense, that something was up.

Her eyes shot upward to the second floor as she walked into the home. She could hear foot steps and what sounded like war-cries.

"We're holding the basket hostage!"

Kairi sighed. The basket kidnappers were her little brothers. She ran up the stairs, getting ready for a battle.


	7. Running Aground

**Dive into the Horizon**

_**Disclaimer: I think Disney employs Ninjas so I'll have to be quiet if I pretend I own anything. Well anything like Sora and Riku, Square-Enix owns Tidus and them. I own… some stuff in my room. Oh. And Aria. hiss no touchie Aria. **_

**Rating:** Teen! I knew they'd come to the manga side.

**Author's Note:** works furiously between things You'll all be happy to know I think about Dive consistently. Right now I am looking at a doodle of Kairi on the side of a note (actually it's a planning of another fanfic) Selphie is there too. (And Lillia… but that's a different story haha!) See? Even when I am writing another story it all comes back to Dive. plots revenge

I got accepted to Ottawa U! This chapter gets SO random at the end I don't think I like it.

**Response to Reviews:**

**Slashy – **look at you. All popular and shit. If I didn't love you I'd hate you. No more making out in public for Riku. Ha ha this chapter is TORTURE

**QianYun – **Wow, thanks for the awesome review. I'm glad you like the characters and that they're not totally out of character… (at least for the story ) Let the non-bashing of Kairi reign! stuffs Kairi back in the closet

**Ink2 – **Harumi and Kohana just miss each other. Riku and Sora are like a hobby. Muwa hahaha. Sora gets some more evidence to the truth this chapter.

**KDhearts – **You own psychopaths (little boys) at your house? You are a brave soul.

**Princess of Mirrors: **Fluffy and adorable? Heh. Try annoyed, frustrated and screaming. I am glad you like Kairi and Leon forces Kairi back into the closet

**C.A.T. – **To half quote Riku from the beginning, O what didn't they do? LoL, the list gets shorter this chapter.

**Insert Bad Cliché Here – **I haven't stopped, it just takes time to write. Lots of action this chapter. Random action.

**Zavalfuin – **I'm glad you like it! I've been writing for a while but I only started being forced to write fan fiction, I think it's fun! Wait no longer!

**Chapter 7: Running Aground**

"You found them where?" Kohana whispered in surprise over afternoon coffee with Riku's mother, Harumi. At least today she knew that Sora was in school where he should be.

"Oh, you heard me. On the bed," Harumi grinned triumphantly. Messing with her son's love life had never been so fun. Half of his girlfriends (and, more recently, boyfriends) hadn't even visited his house. Harumi was certain Riku was afraid of her in that respect.

"My little Sora, growing up so fast," Kohana mused.

"You mean being corrupted so fast," Harumi said, correcting the wistful sentence. She had the feeling that's what Riku was good at. Kohana nodded with a giggle. This was the most fun she had had in a long time.

"So, I can meet your older daughter soon?" Kohana asked. She remembered Harumi's daughter merely as a small child.

"Yes! And you're lucky I even know that. I think Riku wants to hide it from me," she said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Oh? For a surprise?"

"No. He has this strange notion that Yuffie is the scariest thing on earth," Harumi stated as she gestured to make her point.

"Well, she is his older sibling. I think I can understand," Kohana shrugged and then remembered something, "Ah, next week I have to go to the main land for a conference, and after that display of Sora's responsibility…"

"Of course, I understand! Think nothing of it," Harumi grinned, knowing what Kohana was thinking. It was wonderful to have one's best friend back, someone who thought along the exact same lines as oneself. Conversations were just simpler this way.

The two sat for the mid morning coffee. It was becoming a daily ritual, to not only catch up on the past but also the present as well. It was much better than annual letters that had been their connection before Kohana moved back to the islands.

.:---:.

Riku, once again, had to unlock the classroom door before English class commenced. This extra labor in the morning made him extra grouchy as he called out the announcements to a distracted class.

Distracted was a perfect description, Riku thought. Teaching a room full of goldfish would be more fruitful than this. Even with their five second memories they would retain more.

His pillars of the class, Kairi (who always listened even though she had already read the announcements) and Sora (who surprisingly paid attention almost exclusively to the announcements and spaced out during the rest of the class) weren't paying attention. Kairi was focused on Leon, not a big surprise in Riku's mind, and Sora was… almost asleep.

"One last note: the fall festival is coming up and we need to do something for it," he explained. No one looked surprised; other classes had already begun working on their entry. This was something Tidus could not let go unmentioned.

"How come you're days late mentioning this?" he asked snidely, always ready to question Riku's leadership. It was his duty as a member of the press.

Riku just glared the rebel into submission and then asked for suggestions from the class. A formality of course. He and Kairi had decided on a café the day before.

However, the class did prove themselves and, after a few minutes of debate, they chose a café anyway. Kairi and Riku exchanged satisfied looks as he slipped into his desk just as their teacher begun the lesson for the day.

.:---:.

Riku sauntered up to Kairi at the beginning of lunch. He had been at a class presidents' meeting for half of second period. He breathed a sigh of relief to be finally free from it. Though he liked the power and the attention, the rest of being a class rep. was a living nightmare of meetings, committees and paying attention. He looked around for the much-appreciated Sora, but he was nowhere to be found. He raised an eyebrow.

"Where's Sora?" he asked, still standing in front of Kairi like a commander missing someone from his troops.

"Oh, he just left for the library." Kairi looked up, shielding her eyes from the sun and knowing that in any other situation Riku would comment that his divineness made him so bright one had to shield their eyes. However, at the present, she gave a giggle at the slight disappointment that flashed on his face.

"I'm almost getting annoyed with that kid," Riku sighed and promptly did what he needed to do. Dropping down to one knee in front of Kairi, he made himself look as pathetically adorable as someone as smoldering as he could. He grabbed her hand and cleared his throat. He had thought about this all through the meeting and planned his words carefully.

"O wise and ever beautiful goddess among girls," he began over dramatically. Kairi blushed and pried her hand away from his grip.

"Let me guess. You're dumping the café on me?" Kairi guessed. Her eyes narrowed as Riku grinned with a mixture of innocence and expectancy. She held out her hands for the papers she knew were coming.

"Not dumping. Delegating," Riku handed her the papers for the festival and gently kissed her on the back of her hand regally, "Out of all the women in the world, I love you the most, Kairi," he proclaimed rising up to his feet once again.

He still had to go to his locker before he could eat or do other things. He started to walk away, glancing around, half certain he saw Sora disappearing around a corner. But then again, there were many brunettes in the school.

"What about men?" Kairi called out the question slyly before Riku was too far away. She tore her eyes away from the paper to see his response, not only from his mouth but his face as well. Riku turned and gave her a smirk.

"Myself, of course. Good try, though," he said, continuing to walk away. If Kairi wanted a confession she would need to catch him more off guard than that. Riku was so on the ball that he was the ball.

.:---:.

Sora shook a bit and fell into a lonely chair in the library. He hadn't seen that. His heart wished the scene to not be true.

It had only been two days since he told Riku he liked him, but everything was just as confusing as before or maybe more so. Deep in his mind he told himself he was being played like a fool, and, still not sure if he truly did like Riku, Sora had to agree.

He looked around to make sure he was alone and then let his head hit the desk. Sora had been drowning himself in self pity for a few minutes before his senses finally alerted him to the presences of two people surrounding him. He didn't bother to look up to know who they were.

"Kairi, Riku, go away. I'm not feeling well. No repeats of biology today," Sora grumbled not wanting to make out with Riku in every room in the school. Though, it did occur to him that might be one of the white haired boy's goals in life. He looked up hearing a giggle of a girl who wasn't Kairi.

"What happened in Biology?" the girl with flipped brunette hair and sparkling green eyes asked, seemingly interested in the answer to the question. On the other side of him, he noticed a boy with spiky, dirty blond hair. Sora finally recognized them as Selphie and Tidus, classmates from English.

"Umm... Nothing, I just hate that class," Sora half lied. He didn't like the class for a reason he didn't need them to know about.

Selphie pouted but decided to keep her biological questions for later. She'd find out what happened in biology class soon enough. She glanced over at Tidus, who knew that he had a new job to do: find out what happened in bio. He nodded and walked away, leaving Selphie's partly open pencil case on the desk. The brunette girl smiled easily and gave Sora a thorough look over.

"Well, you're right about one thing. You don't look so hot," she said good naturedly, giving him another slight smile. Sora looked at her a moment, trying to decide if she was being sarcastic but he didn't see it in her smile at all so he ignored the small turn of his stomach.

"I don't think moving here was a great idea after all," he said after a moment of deliberation. He wondered if she could help him figure some stuff out about the whole mess about Riku and Kairi.

"Oh dear. Why? Finding it hard to make friends?" Selphie asked. It was a normal problem for new students to go through. Sora shook his head slightly, wishing that it was that simple. No, friends could be easily mended for Sora.

"It's the friends I have, or, at least, it's Riku," Sora said, not thinking too hard. He had yet to realize the explanation he might be asked to give about the Riku problem. He glanced at Selphie as some processes went on in her mind.

"Oh, well, I suppose Riku isn't always crystal clear. He is kind of dirty, if you catch my drift," Selphie giggled, her eyes watching narrowly for Sora's reaction to her comment. She was certain Sora knew even more than she did about Riku's dirty side. Selphie got her reaction when Sora's cheeks turned a shade of dark pink.

"I know. I don't know how Kairi puts up with him," Sora said slyly, hoping Selphie would confirm or deny them going out.

Suddenly, the whole situation dawned on Selphie. She almost laughed in delight. It was perfect. Sora thought the two were going out. She hid her amusement well on the outside, even though it was like Christmas inside. She knew Sora must be beating himself up so much for being "the other man" in the relationship. She nodded and put on a look of understanding.

"I ask that myself a lot too. She does put up with a lot of crap from him," Selphie decided to fuel the fire but never actually say they were going out. She'd leave that to be answered by Sora's imagination. That way, it could never be said she lied. Selphie Oshiro did not lie. Not to anyone. Sora nodded and hoped she went on, just as Selphie wanted. Shestarted to pick her words carefully.

"You know, they've always been together. I think it started when they were kids. When Riku got older, he sometimes drifted away from her to, you know, fool around with other people. But it all seems meaningless because, at the end of the day, he's right back to her side," Selphie explained, knowing that she just trivialized any feelings Sora thought he and Riku shared. She could sleep tonight knowing her job was done.

"Meaningless flings, eh?" Sora thought out loud, a little disappointed. He knew it was like this, but he just hadn't wanted to believe it. That thought made him start. He had just confirmed to himself that he did like Riku, which was something. Sora didn't know if he liked that thought anymore.

"Riku and Kairi have a deep connection, I think," Selphie nodded, knowing she was leaving Sora with some things to think about. She glanced up and saw Tidus jumping up and down outside the library's glass walls, waving, trying to get her attention. She frowned. Something must be up.

"Uh, Sora, I gotta go, but, here," Selphie scribbled her phone number down on a piece of paper, "If you want someone to talk to, you can phone me, okay?"

She gave her best innocent 'I'm a shoulder to cry on' smile, picked up her pencil case and walked away, going off to one side to make it seem like she hadn't been with Sora. Selphie narrowed her eyes through the book shelf, noticing Riku walking quickly over to Sora's location. She smiled grimly. Just in time.

Selphie smiled coolly at Tidus, who sighed happily that she had gotten out of the war zone in time. He had been going off to find people in Sora's biology class but had found instead Riku walking a break neck pace to the library (while remaining very cool in his appearance, but, knowing him for years ,Tidus could spot the irritation in him). He had doubled back to get Selphie clear of Sora so they wouldn't be found out.

"They're in perfect range of one of the security cameras," Tidus observed, figuring out a plan to sneak back into the security room to pick up the file for the library from today. He glanced at Selphie, "Did you get it?"

"Every nervous word," Selphie smirked and produced a small tape recorder from her pencil case. She had 'forgotten' to mention to Sora that she was recording their conversation. Glancing behind Tidus, she quickly stashed it back in the case before a familiar red headed girl narrowed her eyes at the two.

"Oh, hey there Aria," Selphie said clearly, stomping on Tidus's foot for effect to cut the boy's words off before he went ranting on about Sora and Riku.

"That's President Aria to you," the older girl corrected, with her eyes still narrowed.

"What's wrong, Prez?" Tidus asked with a very innocent look on his face. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Cut the crap Maeda and stop pretending to be innocent. You're not cute enough to pull it off," Aria snapped, hitting Tidus gently upside the head. Selphie giggled nervously.

"She's got you there, Tidus," she agreed, hoping to get on Aria's good side. It didn't work. The older girl raised an eyebrow. She knew something was up with the most troubling members of the arts council.

"Alright you two, what are you up to? You know I don't approve of your… hobby. And believe me, WHEN I find out and IF I don't like it, you two are going to have more than one foot in the grave," she warned, pointing her finger at the two a few times for effect. Aria had a way of making vague threats very poignant. Tidus swallowed nervously.

"No worries, Prez. We're not doing anything illegal like last time," Tidus waved her off as Aria walked away. The older girl whirled around and glared at Tidus.

"Maeda, I believe in an ethical handling of life. But I'll beat you into a pulp if I must," she warned simply, glancing at Selphie to tell her that went for her too. Passing the library doors, she dashed off to the opposite side of Riku, who had just stormed out of it.

"Aria," Riku snorted, glaring daggers at the red head. She returned the look. Both seemed to take their anger at someone else on each other.

"I heard you're doing a café, Daijou. You won't beat me. You haven't yet," Aria sneered, knowing saying something like that was pushing Riku to the edge of his patience. They were too alike to like each other without the nasty competitive edge, though, Aria would admit, she respected the white haired boy's pluck.

"This year will be different. You'll see _Prez,_" Riku said in a mocking tone, pushing past her and fuming under his sulky but calm exterior. His mind was a blur. He only wished that when he had woke up that morning something would have warned him to stay home. How could Sora say that?

.:---:.

Sora sat in the library after Selphie's flight, deep in thought about what she had said to him.She seemed sincere enough. She was, at least, concerned about him. Which was something no one else had been that day. Not even Kairi had noticed his worsening mood throughout the morning and, well, Riku… Riku never noticed unless it was good for him.

Was it really meaningless? Riku's touch… did it have feeling behind it or did the white haired boy just enjoy watching someone shiver at his touch? Did it just feed his ego? Was that why he lied? Did he trivialize Sora's heart to just a play thing? And at the end of the day, would he leave Sora broken and go back to his Kairi?

It seemed so.

Sora started to realize that when Riku told him he liked him, Riku just meant he was attracted to him. It didn't contain the deeper, complex feelings that Sora felt. Riku kept those for Kairi and only her. Maybe that was why she had yet to mind or not show she minded Riku's infidelities.

Exploring this disappointing turn of events in his heart and mind, Sora didn't notice Riku sitting beside him, staring at him in bewilderment and calling his name softly until the fourth time.

"Sora, O Deaf One," Riku mused quietly, tilting his head to look under Sora's bangs so he could get a better look at the confused face beneath them. Sora finally noticed and jumped a few inches, startled at Riku's sudden appearance.

"Oh! Riku! I-I…" Sora stopped his startled mumbling at Riku's gentle touch along his cheek and the sweet pressure of his lips against the others. He blushed and looked downwards, almost embarrassed by the attention though not for the reasons he usually was.

"That's the second time you've spaced off enough to ignore a fire alarm. For your well being, I think I should stay with you forever and keep you from dying while day dreaming," Riku nodded, thinking it was a good plan. He didn't mean it to be serious, but when he started thinking about it, it didn't sound that bad. Forever with the cute, chubby cheeked Sora.

"Nergh," Sora responded incoherently, not knowing how to respond to that statement. He didn't think Riku meant forever. Just until he got bored with him and dumped him. Sora's mind whirled. That kind of thing was starting to make him annoyed with Riku. Sora didn't like being lied to, especially when it came to his feelings. His feelings were precious to him, not something to be meddled with nor messed with. He didn't like that and rarely forgave people for it.

"Oh really? My, aren't you the articulate one today," Riku laughed quietly, ruffling Sora's hair, "Or maybe I'd just distract you more," he purred next to Sora's ear, watching the boy shiver under him.

"Probably," Sora muttered, wishing he could have suppressed that shiver. He didn't want Riku to think he had him wrapped around his little finger. It just wasn't fair.

"Once again with the verbal barrage. Are you feeling alright?" Riku asked, playing gently with Sora's hair. He had silently moved closer to the brunette, their legs now touching. Sora stared down at the place, his eyes burning a hole in their flesh.

"What does it matter to you?" Sora asked with more than a drop of poison in his voice. He didn't want to be played. Not by Riku. Not by anyone.

"Pardon?" Riku narrowed his eyes a bit, trying to figure out if Sora had meant to be so rude to him. He decided to ignore it for the moment. Those blue eyes were just too cute to stay annoyed at.

"You heard me. Why do you care what I feel?" Sora asked, accidentally changing the meaning of Riku's original question. He stared a Riku, his hands balled into fists.

"Sora, what are you going on about? I just thought you looked a little off and apparently I was right," Riku said, offended by the brunette's tone. Mostly, he was confused by all the rage in the small body before him. He reached out to touch Sora's cheek, but his hand was slapped away. He stared at Sora, his aqua eyes wide.

"Don't patronize me! You don't know everything!" Sora spat, his body shaking and his lips in an angry pout. Riku was sure he was about to burst into tears. Usually that was a huge warning for him to just walk away and let the psycho (usually a girl) handle their own problems. But this wasn't some psycho. It was Sora. Sora mattered.

"Sora, I only know what you tell me," Riku ran a hand through his hair, frustrated, "And right now your body language tells me there's something wrong. Can't I help you?" he pleaded, not understanding what was wrong. He wanted Sora to be his happy self again. He missed it.

"You don't care! Go find someone else to screw up!" Sora whispered harshly. He wanted to yell at Riku but he didn't want the librarian coming over and making it into a scene. It would be terribly embarrassing.

"Sora!" Riku exclaimed, not caring about rules. The library was loud anyway with gaggles of students chatting. He reached out and hauled Sora to his feet, standing up himself.

"What the hell is wrong with you today?" Riku asked, fighting the urge to drag Sora out of the library to have a proper row about this. He wanted Sora to calm down and explain things in a logical and coherent manner.

"You're what's wrong. I hate you," Sora snapped, pushing Riku away from him. Sora fell back down into his chair and covered his head with his arms, signaling that this conversation was most definitely over. Riku stood there, staring at Sora blankly for a few moments before letting out a frustrated sigh and fleeing the library.

.:---:.

"Whoa, Sora. The face that launched a thousand ships to escape from it," Kohana teased her son who turned from glaring at the TV to glaring at her. She raised her hands in a 'don't blame me' gesture. Kohana ignored the low growl coming from her son and sat down beside him. She glanced at the television.

"I didn't know Blue's Clues was so frustrating," she said, getting another glare from Sora. She gave a sweet smile and leaned back into couch. Sora snorted and switched the channel. He hadn't even noticed he was watching that program. He continued to glare silently at the TV.

"Sora, sweetie, you should stop glaring at the innocent television. You're going to cause interference," Kohana said, snatching the remote controller from him and switching it off. If all her son was going to do was sulk, he didn't have to waste electricity while doing it.

"Leave me alone and let me rot in front of it," Sora argued, trying to get the remote back and finding it impossible since was Kohana standing up on the couch and dangling the remote just out of his reach.

"What's wrong today, Sora?" Kohana asked as Sora gave up on the remote and glared at the black television like nothing had changed.

"I had a bad day, okay? Lay off," Sora spat. He felt a little guilty because he knew his mom didn't do anything wrong to deserve this, but it was just how he felt. Santa Claus could be giving him the world and Sora would be snotty.

"Oh, did someone have a lover's spat with a certain Daijou boy?" Kohana teased, flopping down on the couch to poke her son's cheeks. She moved her hand out of biting range when her son made a move.

"Riku's not my lover! He's a—a stupid self centered jerk!" Sora cried out knowing he sounded really immature. He made a mental note to expand his angry vocabulary.

"Oh, really? Tell your mommy what happened," Kohana said, dragging Sora over to her Sometimes you just had to treat him like a small child to make him realize he was acting as such.

"Argh, stop it," Sora squirmed as Kohana expertly started tickling him. She continued her attack on Sora's sides until the brunette had given up on glaring at the world in general. After he caught his breath, Sora sighed carefully and felt a little better.

"We had a fight," Sora explained, looking at his mom who let out a giggle.

"I was right: a lover's spat," Kohana pointed out. Her son pouted until she was quiet again.

"We're not—He's not… I'd never go out with him. He's a total jerk. He doesn't care about me," he tried to explain. He didn't want to discuss this with his mom. She always made him see that his problems weren't that large and foreboding so he always felt bad about them after a talk with her.

"Oh really? So what? He's a pervert wanting into my darling son's pants?" Kohana asked, raising an eyebrow. Sora gaped and turned red.

"MOM!"

"Heh, am I right?"

"Argh! Moms aren't supposed to talk like that!" Sora squealed, embarrassed. At least this time it didn't happen in a public place.

"You know, you've yet to deny this fact," Kohana pointed out, watching in delight as her son tried to wipe that sentence from his memory. Sora pouted and waited for his mother to stop embarrassing him.

"You're not helping. I told him I hated him," Sora admitted, that changed Kohana's look of delight to one of concern.

"Oh dear, Sora, isn't hate a bit strong? What did he do?" she asked quietly, realizing the problem was a little more than she had thought.

"Nothing. It's what he didn't do. Mom, he doesn't… I don't know how he feels about me," Sora let out with a sigh. He stood up. Sora didn't feel like talking about this to his mother of all people.

"Well, no one said love was easy," Kohana commented, giving her son a look. She left him to go make something for dinner in the kitchen.

Sora stared at her in disbelief and marched up the stairs. He threw himself into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. He collapsed on his bed and hid his face in his pillow.

Since when did love come into this?

Sora hit himself on the forehead. This might be the last time he talked to his mom about anything, especially if she brought up the scary L-word again. That just wasn't fair. Moms shouldn't be going around planting such thoughts in their children's minds.

.:---:.

"Is your son a raving lunatic, too?" Kohana's voice came over the phone with an edge of twisted humor attached to it. Harumi Daijou laughed sharply and peeked into the living room. A pillow came flying at her.

"Oh, doubly yes. Riku's having a fit. Somehow, it's my fault," she said, going back to the safety of the kitchen. Riku knew the kitchen was a fit-free zone and it would be painful if he went in there like he was.

"Oh dear. I hope things get patched up by Tuesday," Kohana responded. She could faintly hear Riku rambling on in the background.

"No worries. If they don't I'll force it out of them," Harumi smiled into the phone. She glanced into the living room again where Riku was glaring at the television and mumbling incoherent threats.

"I think Sora is sulking in his room," Kohana said numbly, looking at her finger nails.

"Well at least that's quiet. Does he try to glare the television to death too?" Harumi asked. The giggle on Kohana's end confirmed the strange behavior was the same with both boys. Just then, Riku popped his head into the kitchen.

"Is that the psychopath's mom? Ask her if Sora's PMSing," Riku sneered. Harumi glared at him, silently telling him not to act like that in the kitchen. He pointed down, showing that his feet were very much in the living room.

Harumi rolled her eyes and grabbed a rolling pin from the counter. She pointed it at her son and gave him a silent threat. On the phone, Kohana laughed since she had heard Riku. Listening to her house, she heard a frustrated scream upstairs.

"Tell Riku it's either that or someone's beat him to Sora, because he's screaming upstairs," Kohana laughed again. It was good to be able to laugh at things again.

Harumi told Riku this and the white haired boy stepped back into the living room away from the rolling pin. He twitched a bit before rolling his eyes. It was obvious that someone was trying to make him jealous or at least get something out of him.

"Well, then, they can screw him up. That's what he wants. Someone else," Riku snapped. Apparently the psychopath's mother wasn't going to be any help. And neither was Harumi, who shook the rolling pin at him to tell him not to be so rude.

"I don't think Sora is the only one PMSing," Harumi commented dryly into the phone as Riku stormed away to go glare at the television in his room.

.:---:.

"Kairi? Why are you still here?" Leon had been ready to leave school and go home, his bag all packed. It was late, almost six PM. He was walking through the spacious hall by the main doors when he noticed the familiar redhead in a work room, staring furiously at scattering pieces of paper.

The girl looked up surprised at Leon's presence.

"Oh, I—Are you going home Leon?" Kairi asked, shuffling the papers a bit. She was trying to come up with a design idea for the café. She thought it was a little early for the teachers to go home.

"Kairi, it's almost six. Shouldn't you be home?" Leon asked a little concerned.

"Six? Oh—Oh no! I must of lost track of time… This is all Riku's fault!" She said, flustered and tried to gather up her things. She missed her bus and the late bus from the school. Kairi knew she'd have to phone her father to give her a ride home, if he was home at all. She sighed, knowing, most likely, he wouldn't be.

"Riku's fault? What's wrong?" Leon sat down beside her, inspecting the designs and scrapped ideas. Kairi had stopped bothering to put things away in a hurry. She wasn't going anywhere quickly.

"I'm totally in charge of the café for the festival. I have to do everything, but, before I can buy anything or recruit people, I need a design," Kairi explained. Leon narrowed his eyes on the papers in front of him.

"Isn't this Riku's job?" he asked, helping her with her papers and putting them into a neat pile for her.

"Well, technically, but he delegated me to do it," Kairi bitterly used Riku's term for it.

"He dumped this on you and won't bother to help?" Leon looked a little annoyed. He continued to help Kairi clean up since she looked a little upset.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm used to it," she said quietly, not noticing that she had started to cry.

Leon frown deepened and he put a hand on Kairi's shoulder. He figured she had to be really frustrated and stressed to burst into tears so easily. On the other hand, he wanted to have a talk to Riku about using people. He waited a few minutes while Kairi continued her cry.

"I'm sorry," Kairi mumbled, wiping her eyes with a tissue. Leon shook his head as he finished packing her bag.

"You have nothing to apologize for," he gave her a rare smile, "Now, how are you getting home?"

Kairi blinked away a few stray tears and looked at Leon, thinking, "Um, I'll have to call my dad, but I'm not sure if he'll be home," she explained quietly. Leon looked like he was deep in thought.

"Do you need help on this project?" he asked after a moment or two. Leon stood up and Kairi followed suit. She nodded a bit.

"When I get everything organized, I'll find some people to help me make it," Kairi explained, hoisting her heavy bag onto one of her shoulders. She glanced up to catch another hidden smile.

"How about I help you? I don't have a ton to do as a student teacher," Leon suggested as they walked out of the room into the deserted main hall. Kairi smiled softly.

"That'd be great, at least, to know someone is helping me," she said, paused in the hall. Kairi wasn't sure if the office would be open or if she would have to use the pay phone.

"Good," Leon bent down and kissed Kairi on the top of her head before he realized what he had done. He averted his eyes as she stared up at him surprised and turned a bit red. Twice both of them tried to restart the conversation. Leon ran a hand through his dark hair and then glanced at Kairi, who gave a small smile. It was contagious and he broke into a fit of nervous laughter.

"Sorry 'bout that. How about I drive you home since I already know the way?" he suggested as they walked to the main doors. Leon had driven Kairi home after Riku and Sora had left them in the park.

"That'd be great, thanks," Kairi smiled, following him to the parking lot. A fizz of hope for her crush still tingled inside of her. Maybe, just maybe, she had a chance.

.:---:.

Riku wasn't sneaking around. Riku Daijou didn't stalk people. People stalked him. Or, at least, that's what he was currently telling himself.

Presently, Riku was stalking someone. Sora, to be exact.

He rubbed his bare arms in the fresh night air. So it would have been better to plan ahead and dress for the occasion. However, he was wearing what he had been sulking in at home: second best jeans and an almost sleeveless knitted top. He had wandered the streets for a bit and then found himself at Sora's house. The lights in the boy's bedroom were on and they were also on in the living room.

He stared up at the window on the second floor. Now, how to get there? He could walk in, chat with Kohana and then go up, but he wasn't in the mood to have her know he was there. Riku looked around. There was a tree by the house; a small cherry tree. Riku grinned. The edge of the roof of the porch was just under Sora's window and the tree reached it. Perfect.

Riku raced over and studied the tree, figuring out how difficult it would be. After a few minutes, he decided it could be done.

He hoisted himself up carefully through the tree, making sure to check every branch he was about to trust. Though he was good at it, he wished he had spent a little more time climbing trees recently. Good thing it came naturally to him.

Riku checked the last branch he'd need in the tree before he perched on it, trying to devise a way onto the roof. After a moment or two, he decided what to do and jumped silently onto the porch roof, desperately hoping it was safe to walk on. He was good at moving quietly, but, if the roof collapsed beneath him, there wasn't much he could do.

Luckily, the roof held and he was able to sneak across it to Sora's bedroom window without incident. Riku kept low to the window sill and snuck a look inside. He liked what he saw.

Sora was facing the closet, away from the window, standing only with his boxers hugging his narrow hips. He looked like he was glaring at his assortment of clothes that were in the closet in a state of chaos. Riku was also glad that, grumpy as he was, Sora had the radio turned up loud.

Not waiting a moment, in case Sora turned around, Riku pushed up the already half open window and tumbled inside noiselessly onto Sora's bed. With one hand, he pushed the window down to its original place and stalked across the room. Riku put a hand on Sora's mouth and whirled him around.

Sora tried to scream in surprise, but the hand muffled the sound to almost nothing. He didn't have to be turned around to know who it was. Sora knew Riku's intoxicating scent already. He stared at Riku in, not only anger, but mystified at the older boys audacity. Looking around, Sora figured he must have come through the window.

Good. He could finally give Riku a proper yelling at.

Riku gripped Sora's shoulders and quickly replaced the hand on the brunette's mouth with his own in a fierce kiss. Since Sora didn't fight back, Riku slipped his tongue into the mixture to claim Sora's mouth as his own.

His hand gently rubbed Sora's arms up and down. Breathless, they parted, Riku weaving his hands through Sora's hair. He smiled warmly and pressed his lips onto Sora's again, who clutched at Riku's shirt, torn between giving up and fighting back.

He hung there, eyes tightly closed, trying to ignore to ignore how floaty and silly he was feeling inside. Riku's hard kiss sent shivers down Sora's spine, the changing pressure on his lips driving him to forget everything that had happened that day.

That was what Riku did.

Sora gasped for air as Riku moved away, studying Sora for a moment. He knew that if he opened his mouth to speak a word he would probably screw everything up again. The half-naked, flushed Sora in front of him, driving his tongue to be clumsy, also echoed that sentiment, but Riku had to risk it. Those deep blue eyes begged for it.

"I'm sorry," Riku whispered hoarsely, his hands traveling all over Sora's flesh. He captured the brunette's lips in yet another passionate kiss, dragging the boy across the room. The kiss only broke off when Riku stumbled backwards, tripping over Sora's back pack. He caught the easy smile on Sora's face and decided to shrug it off, running a hand through his hair to maintain some sort of façade of his dignity.

He quickly threw his shirt off and crushed Sora against him, moving his quick kiss from the brunette's mouth all over his face and then neck, expertly ravishing the boy, who became mush in his arms.

Sora sighed, a mixture of desire and resignation. He couldn't fight off Riku's affections. His body wouldn't listen to any of that nonsense that came from his brain.

He moaned softly as Riku sucked on his pulse point, as if he was collecting Sora's breath before it reached his lungs to make him feel light headed. Sora gripped at Riku's chest and then his hips, feeling Riku press against him. He was only dully aware that he was only dressed in boxers.

Sora felt himself being lowered onto his bed with a gentle push by Riku, who didn't even pause in his attention to Sora's neck. He was only half-aware of what was happening around him.

He didn't know how to react, mostly because no one had ever put him on a bed like that. Ever. He hadn't done that before. Sora looked up at Riku, wondering if he was serious about the whole thing.

Riku looked at Sora for a moment, thinking he looked a little sad. He hoped it wasn't from him and his actions. He kissed the younger boy's neck softly, holding each kiss for a moment and taking in Sora's scent and the feel of him under him. His hands explored Sora's body, keeping away from the ticklish parts, which was harder to do than say.

He moved his gentle kisses upwards, back to Sora's lips. Riku slipped his tongue into Sora's mouth with a comforting tone rather than the openly dominant and frustrated exchange of before. He was rewarded with Sora hesitantly returning the kiss, and then with growing confidence.

Sora whined softly when he felt Riku slipping off his boxers. Now, he was totally uncovered under the white haired boy and it terrified the logical part of his mind that he didn't care. He leaned up and brought Riku into a kiss, demanding more passion than before.

Riku grinned mentally. If he was allowed to do this on the same day Sora said he hated him, then he wanted Sora forever.

However, the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs broke the moment off instantly. Sora stared at Riku in fright. He knew his mom was going to check on him. He started to panic, squirming under him and glaring at Riku to have some common sense.

"Alright, Alright, I'm going," Riku sighed, kissing Sora softly on the lips, "Goodnight."

In a silent flight, Riku went through the window and scrambled down the tree as fast as he could. On the ground, he finally noticed that he was grasping something in his hand. He looked down and laughed sharply, slumping against the tree half-exhausted.

He had Sora's boxers in his hands, like treasure from a plundered port. He also noticed he had forgotten his shirt on Sora's bedroom floor.

Riku decided it was a fair trade.

Catching his breath, Riku wandered back home to sneak into his own bedroom, glad no one was waiting for him inside for an explanation. Comfortable under his blankets, he shoved Sora's boxers under a pillow, thinking it had been a half successful night. Although it could have been better.

Mothers, Riku thought with disgust, always ruining things for their children.

.:---:.

Sora rushed to the desk and flicked off the light before his mother would be able to notice. He dove back under the covers and promptly pretended to be asleep, thankful, for once, for his amazing ability to sleep in any situation.

Since he could fall asleep through any radio, no matter how loud, and since it was almost impossible to wake him, he knew that if he faked being asleep his mother wouldn't investigate it.

Kohana looked in her son's bedroom and frowned. Did it get messier every time she looked inside? She walked in the dark room and turned off the blaring radio, then leaned over her sleeping son to shut the window a bit more. It was wide open and the breeze from the ocean was cool. Ruffling Sora's hair, Kohana left the room and went back downstairs.

Sora was ready to fall asleep himself and forget about the day, the good, the bad and the downright confusing. He wrapped himself more securely in his blankets.

He paused as he realized he was missing something important. Sora threw the covers up and found he was without his boxers. He looked around the bed and didn't find them anywhere.

He groaned and fell backwards, remembering that Riku's busy perverted hands were to blame. Crawling back under the covers, Sora plotted revenge until sleep overtook him.

Riku would pay.

.:---:.

:Riku screams in the background:

**Sora:** He hasn't stopped doing that since the end of the chapter. I'm scared.

**Kari:** Yeah. I think he's freaking out about the whole sex thing.

**Sora**: If sex was like horseshoes, almost would count.

**Riku:** BUT IT'S NOT!

**Kari:** Calm down. You'll get your way.

**Sora:** reviewing the outline yeah… eventually.

**Riku:** :twitch::twitch: You'll both will die at my hands.

**Sora:** Oh, you want to be a necro?

**Kari:** If the person wasn't willing in life, would it be post humus rape?

**Sora:** Good question!  
**Riku:** ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!

**Sora:** I better handle this… :huggles: Riku I wuv you.

**Riku:** :twitch::drags Sora away:

**Kari:** Way to take one for the team Sora!


End file.
